Ch. 541..550

Chapter 541 - 541 – The Bulwark

Gravis had never heard of the bulwark before. By definition, a bulwark was a defensive wall or just a very fortified position. It sounded more like a bulwark would refer to the defensive line, but apparently, it didn’t.

"It’s a defensive line made out of plants," Ferris answered.

Gravis blinked a couple of times. "I was wondering why I saw so few powerful plants. Are they all in this bulwark?" Gravis asked.

"Most of them, yeah," Ferris answered. "Plants can’t really move, which makes it hard for them to survive in most areas. Beasts that fight a plant and feel like they would lose simply run away and the plant can’t do anything about it. That makes it hard for plants to get food and become more powerful."

"Then, how did this bulwark form?" Gravis asked.

"Our ancestors created it," Ferris answered with his usual excitement. "We have been fighting the sea beasts for forever, and keeping the defensive lines working takes up a loooot of beasts. So, they decided to create a defensive line with only plants. With that, we can send more beasts to other places."

Gravis nodded. "Makes sense. Where is that bulwark?" he asked.

"At the core of the world," Ferris answered. "A third of our area near the Grand Lake is being protected by the bulwark, with us taking care of the remainder."

"Grand Lake? What’s that?" Gravis asked.

Ferris was a bit taken aback. "You don’t know what the Grand Lake is? That’s weird! Everybody knows," Ferris said.

Gravis sighed. "Just tell me, Ferris," Gravis said helplessly.

"Sure thing," Ferris answered with a smile. "The Grand Lake is the very core of the world. It’s about 200,000 kilometers wide, encompassing the entire core of the world."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "I thought us land beasts were more powerful than the sea beasts. How come the most important territory is completely underwater? Shouldn’t it be like 75% land and 25% sea?" Gravis asked.

"After you leave the Grand Lake, the land and sea are distributed like that, yes, but it doesn’t include the Grand Lake itself," Ferris answered.

"Why don’t we simply transform this territory into land if we’re more powerful?" Gravis asked.

"The Striders live there," Ferris answered simply. "They like water."

Now, everything made sense. Gravis remembered the imposing and impossibly powerful "cows" he had seen from the Mountain of Pride. In fact, when Gravis looked to the north, he could even see them from here. These Striders were all so powerful that it needed a level five Emperor with a level three Law to kill even one of them, and there were ten!

Gravis was way farther away from the core of the continent than when he had been on the Mountain of Pride. Yet, the Striders were simply too gigantic. This distance only made them appear a bit smaller.

Obviously, if the land beasts tried to do anything to the Grand Lake, a Strider might take offense and simply kill them.

"Do sea beasts live in the Grand Lake?" Gravis asked.

"It’s full of them!" Ferris said. "It’s their headquarters, and their Ultimates live there as well."

"The Striders don’t mind?" Gravis asked.

"Nah, they don’t care about any of that. As long as you are not a threat to them, don’t touch their water, or don’t attack them, they simply ignore you. Theoretically, you could even sit on one of them, but no one has the guts to play with their lives like that," Ferris explained.

’The Striders sound rather passive,’ Gravis thought. ’Though, it makes sense. After all, the Striders aren’t there to kill beasts but to be killed by beasts. If they were aggressive, it would defeat the entire purpose.’

"The bulwark must be powerful if it can defend such a powerful territory, right?" Gravis asked.

"Super powerful," Ferris answered with a frantic nod. "One of our Ultimates is a plant and lives there."

"One of our Ultimates is a plant?" Gravis asked in shock.

"Yeah, but since the plants are on our side, that Ultimate counts as one of ours. The Bulwark is her Empire!" Ferris said.

’Her? Plants have genders?’ Gravis thought. ’Maybe they assign themselves genders as soon as they become Lords or something like that? I don’t know. I know nearly nothing about plants.’

"Speaking of, how do plants even learn Laws?" Gravis asked. If the Plant Empress was an Ultimate, it meant that she didn’t know a level three Law yet. Did plants also need to comprehend Laws?

"They kinda do, and kinda don’t," Ferris asked with an uncertain voice as he scratched his ear again.

"Could you elaborate?" Gravis asked.

"Well," Ferris said, "plants don’t go out and comprehend Laws. They kinda learn their Laws automatically with age and enough nutrition. It comes automatically."

"That’s interesting," Gravis said as he scratched his chin. "How long has the Plant Empress lived to become so powerful?" he asked.

"Like 50,000 years or so," Ferris answered.

Gravis’ eyes widened. "But Emperors only have a longevity of 10,000 years!" Gravis said in shock.

Now, it was time for Ferris to become shocked. "We do!? I didn’t know that!" he exclaimed.

What beast could possibly live to be 10,000 years old in a Natural World? Because of that, nearly no beasts knew how long the longevity of Emperors was. Gravis only knew it because Orpheus had told him.

"Is the Plant Empress truly so old?" Gravis asked.

Ferris forgot his thoughts about his own longevity as he got distracted by Gravis’ question. "Yeah, but don’t phrase it like that. The Empress doesn’t like it if you call her old."

"But she is literally the oldest thing in the world!" Gravis said. "How is she not old!?"

"She is, but she doesn’t like hearing it," Ferris said. "You should be careful with your words when we get to the bulwark."

Gravis groaned at the situation. This made no sense. The oldest being in the world didn’t like to be called old. "Sure thing, Ferris," Gravis said helplessly.

"Great!" Ferris said with excitement. "Let’s first return to the Icy Pride Empire. The bulwark doesn’t count as our Law Comprehension Area, so we should ask the Empress first."

Gravis smiled, but not for the reason one thought. Gravis smiled because of Ferris. Ferris had comprehended a level two and a level three Law in the last four years. This meant that his actual power was probably even higher than the Grand Elder’s power. He would even be able to fight with the Empress.

Yet, it didn’t even cross Ferris’ mind to become arrogant or aggressive towards either of them. He simply accepted that he should ask the Empress first. This showed a lot about Ferris’ personality.

"Sure thing," Gravis said. "Let’s go!"

And with that, Gravis said goodbye to the Law Comprehension Area he had been in for the past four years. He learned a lot about materials here and also managed to uncover the categorization for a powerful level four Law.

This was the first Law Comprehension Area where Gravis actually had fully focused on understanding more Laws. Back in the Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning, Gravis hadn’t focused on Laws at all. He had been busy strengthening his Will-Aura.

Yet, this was only the first of Gravis’ stops.

Next stop: the bulwark!

 

 

Chapter 542 - 542 – The Inferno Emperor

Gravis and Ferris traveled back to the Mountain of Pride. Before they went to the bulwark, they needed to ask the Empress for permission. After all, Gravis was still under the Realm Stop.

After they arrived at the Mountain of Pride, they didn’t stop and simply flew up to the top of the mountain. Currently, only the Empress was on the mountain with the Grand Elder nowhere in sight. He probably also had things to do.

The Empress was surprised that Gravis returned so quickly. Had he caused trouble again? It had only been four years!

Yet, the Empress’ eyes quickly turned from Gravis to the, now serious-looking, Ferris. First, her eyes squinted like she needed to take a closer look. Then, her head moved backward in surprise. After that, she closed her eyes and shook her head a little, and after opening her eyes again, she looked at Ferris again with an intense gaze.

Ferris felt a bit uncomfortable when the Empress looked at him like that while Gravis only smirked, but inside, he was laughing. Beasts could feel the pride and superior power of other beasts. Additionally, the Empress had probably also understood the Law of Danger since it was so common. She had surely been in her fair share of dangerous situations to become so powerful.

After some seconds, the Empress shook her head slightly like she couldn’t believe what she was feeling.

"Elder Ferris, what happened to you?" she asked with her usual cold voice.

"I comprehended some Laws," Ferris answered neutrally and respectfully. His positive and excited demeanor was nowhere to be seen. Right now, he acted like a respectful Elder in front of their Emperor.

"How many?" The Empress asked.

"Five," Ferris answered.

The Empress’ eyes widened in shock. Gravis noticed her reaction and managed to discern several things. Apparently, Ferris’ rapid progress was not usual for Emperors. Gravis hadn’t been sure if it was normal for Emperors to understand so many Laws in such a short amount of time, but judging by the Empress’ reaction, it wasn’t.

"Which ones?" the Empress asked. She appeared calm and prideful on the outside, but Gravis knew that she was agitated deep inside.

Ferris probably felt completely different to her. The last time Ferris appeared in front of her, he had only been a level one Emperor that was a tiny bit above average. Now, with a level three Law, he was probably the most powerful level one Emperor in the world. After all, how many level one Emperors managed to understand a level three Law?

"Steam, Wind move-"

"Steam?" the Empress interjected with shock. Elder Ferris had a fire affinity. Where did that Law of Steam suddenly come from?

"Yes, steam," Ferris answered with a serious voice.

"Why?" the Empress asked, truly confused.

"Learning more is better, and Gravis has taught me that it’s bad to only focus on Laws that increase my Battle-Strength," Ferris answered.

The Empress couldn’t believe what she had heard just now. Increasing one’s Battle-Strength was bad? How was that bad!? Additionally, if Ferris didn’t concentrate on his Battle-Strength, how did he suddenly become so incredibly powerful!?

The Empress’ icy gaze turned to Gravis. "Explain," she demanded.

Yet, before Gravis could answer, the Empress’ gaze suddenly snapped back to Ferris with shock. Right now, Ferris was looking at the Empress with a threatening stare, which shocked her to no end. What was going on!?

"Ferris! Calm down," Gravis said from the side. "The Empress isn’t threatening me."

Immediately, everything calmed down as Ferris looked like he had realized that he had made a mistake. "Oh, okay," he said with his usual, excited self, but he quickly remembered that he was supposed to act respectfully in front of the Empress and composed himself again. Apparently, he had completely forgotten that he had just looked at the Empress with a threatening stare.

The shocks just didn’t end for the Empress. One of her own Elders, who had been with her for over a thousand years, was ready to attack her after spending four years with Gravis. Where did all his usual loyalty suddenly go?

"Anyway," Gravis said, making the Empress look at him again. "Specialized Laws often require knowledge from completely different sources that don’t seem connected to the Law in any way."

Gravis lifted his index finger. "For example: Steam. To make steam, you need fire. So, in order to learn about steam, you need to know a bit about fire. You don’t need to know a lot, just a little bit. The same thing is true for level two and level three Laws."

The Empress had never heard such a thing. One element was one element, and another one was another one. Yet, Gravis’ explanation also made sense. "How do you know that?" she asked.

"Because when my father told me about Laws, he had given me an example of a Law to explain it better. This entire Law is a gigantic amalgamation of Laws from different elements. Then, after Ferris had understood the Law of Steam, I realized that the same thing was true for the smaller Laws. Ferris, could you please explain to the Empress how you comprehended the Law of Steam?" Gravis said.

Ferris looked with respect at the Empress again. "I have realized that I have known more about steam than I had thought after looking at it. In my fights against beasts with the water element, I had seen a lot of steam from when our elements clashed. So, my understanding of the fire element has helped me to understand steam, which is a part of the water element."

The Empress fell into thought. Yet, she was not evaluating if that claim were true or not. Right now, she was only trying to come to terms with the fact that she hadn’t seen such an obvious connection before. To her, it appeared so incredibly obvious. How hadn’t she noticed that before!?

After a while, the Empress sighed, which was a rare show of emotion from her. "I see," she said silently, mainly to herself. "So, if our more powerful Laws can give us insights into other, weaker Laws, the weaker Laws can give us insight into our more powerful Laws."

"Exactly," Gravis said with a nod.

"You’ve given me a lot to think about, Gravis," the Empress said. Then, she turned back to Ferris. "What were the other Laws?"

"Wind Movement, Earth Hardening, Soul Infusion, and Living Fire," Ferris said.

The Empress furrowed her scaly brows. Wind Movement made sense since fire made air move upwards. Earth Hardening also made sense since fire could harden clay and similar materials. Yet, what about the remaining two?

"What is this Soul Infusion?" the Empress asked. Apparently, even she didn’t know of such a Law, which showed how rare it was.

"The Soul is the thing that differentiates dead from alive things," Ferris explained. "With Soul Infusion, I can take my Energy and infuse a dead object with a Soul."

The Empress took a deep breath when she heard that. Such a concept sounded very ethereal and powerful. Such a power almost felt like it shouldn’t exist. Transforming something dead into something alive sounded like something that only a God could do.

"I presume that’s a level two Law?" the Empress asked.

Ferris nodded.

"And you have created the Living Fire by combining your Law of Fire Manipulation with your Law of Soul Infusion?" she asked.

Ferris nodded again.

The Empress took another deep breath. She knew what that meant. Ferris had managed to comprehend a level three Law, something even she hadn’t been able to comprehend. Ferris’ status had shot up violently. From a normal Elder, he had risen to become a Pre-Ascender, a beast that was only missing food to ascend.

All of this had happened way too suddenly. One of her Elders had become a Pre-Ascender. Yet, due to something else that had happened, the Empress now knew the reason.

The Empress looked at Gravis intensely, making him raise an eyebrow. "You have a powerful influence that allows us beasts to comprehend powerful Laws."

Gravis squinted his eyes. "My talk with Ferris had some impact, sure, but don’t you think you are overreacting?" Gravis asked.

The Empress simply continued to look at Gravis. "No, I’m not," she stated.

"What makes you think that?" Gravis asked.

"Elder Ferris had comprehended many more Laws. The Grand Elder managed to comprehend another level two Law regarding lightning after talking with you. The Inferno Emperor managed to comprehend a level three Law after coming in contact with you, and I have just comprehended another Law after talking with you," the Empress said.

"The only connection is you," she said.

Gravis was taken aback. The Grand Elder learned another level two Law after talking to him? The Empress just comprehended another one? Also, what was that other thing?

"I don’t recall ever meeting the Inferno Emperor," Gravis said.

"Yes, you did," the Empress said. "His title when he had been a King was the Red King."

Gravis’ eyes widened in recognition. The red hawk that had kept Gravis inside his Kingdom for five years! He was also the one that brought Gravis to the Empress.

Gravis’ eyes shone coldly. He didn’t forget his enmity with the Red King. He still wanted to kill the Red King for his year-long suppression. Yet, that goal seemed to be even more distant than Gravis had thought.

"He has comprehended a level three Law?" Gravis asked.

The Empress nodded. "After the meeting, he entered the Law Comprehension Area for Inferno, which is the fire equivalent to your Punishment Lightning. He exited as an Emperor and immediately attacked the sea beasts. He fought a level two Emperor evenly for hours."

The Empress narrowed her eyes. "You should know that this was before he comprehended the Law of Inferno," she said.

Gravis also narrowed his eyes. This meant that as a new level one Emperor, the Red King had already been powerful enough to jump an entire level as an Emperor. When he had been a level five King, the Red King had probably been even more powerful than an Inquisitor.

"During that fight," the Empress continued, "the Inferno Emperor managed to understand the Law of Inferno and killed the enemy Emperor. Shortly after, he killed another level two Emperor. Right now, the Inferno Emperor is a level two Emperor that can even fight a level four Emperor. He might be even more powerful than me."

Gravis took a deep breath with closed eyes. "Is he still part of the Icy Pride Empire?" Gravis asked.

"No, he left the Empire as soon as he exited the Law Comprehension Area. He also left his Kingdom behind, and it doesn’t seem like he’s interested in creating his own Empire. His goal is the higher world."

Gravis’ eyes shone coldly. "So, he’s up for grabs, right?"

The Empress looked into Gravis’ eyes.

"Yes."

 

 

Chapter 543 - 543 – Off To The Bulwark!

Gravis fell into thought after he got the go-ahead to kill the Inferno Emperor. Of course, Gravis wasn’t so stupid that he would search for him now. The Inferno Emperor had already had the ability to fight a level above himself as an Emperor even before he had understood his level three Law.

Gravis could also infer how powerful the Inferno Element was. Since it was the equivalent to his Punishment Lightning, it meant that the Inferno Element would be just as powerful. Even if Gravis managed to comprehend the Hard Complex Law and created a new armor, his armor would need to be around two or three levels higher than the Inferno Emperor to withstand such an attack.

Gravis’ most powerful weapon was his Will-Aura and his Law of Suppression. With that, he would be able to slow the Inferno Emperor by over 80% if he were only one level higher than Gravis. This would allow Gravis to securely kill him if there were only a one-level difference.

Yet, that was considering if Gravis’ Will-Aura continued to grow at the same rate as it had been up to this point. If his Will-Aura didn’t increase, the Inferno Emperor would only be slowed by about 50%. That might prove to be an issue since Gravis couldn’t allow himself to get hit.

’Additionally, I don’t intend to increase my Realm for the next 96 years,’ Gravis thought. ’The Inferno Emperor has a straight path to the next world now, and it’s even possible that he will ascend in the next 96 years.’

Gravis sighed as Ferris looked at him in confusion. ’If I immediately increase my Realm, I might be able to catch up to him and kill him, but that would sacrifice this opportunity to understand more Laws, which is more important for my future path.’

Gravis took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He didn’t like this decision at all, but it was better this way. ’My path is more important than revenge,’ Gravis thought.

"Understanding more Laws is more important than revenge," Gravis said.

The Empress nodded. "That’s the correct choice. As long as you become more powerful, you can always take your revenge."

Gravis nodded back, but inside he was thinking something else. ’I already have an idea to get my revenge anyway, but I need to ascend first,’ he thought.

Ferris looked at Gravis with interest as Gravis shook his head to push the thoughts of revenge out of his mind. It was time to ask the Empress something much more important.

"Are there any news regarding our Kids?" Gravis asked nervously.

The Empress felt that it was a bit weird that Gravis said "our", but she ignored it. "All of them are still alive and doing well. In actuality, their Battle-Strength has become rather impressive."

"Oh?" Gravis asked, excited now. His kids were impressive, even for the Empress’ standards?

"They are all less than ten years old, but they have all managed to comprehend a Law already. That is quite impressive," the Empress said.

Gravis’ eyes widened. All of them had already understood a Law at their age? That was truly impressive! When Gravis heard that, he felt incredibly proud of them.

"What Laws did they comprehend?" Gravis asked.

"I don’t know," the Empress said evenly.

"Why not?" Gravis asked in surprise.

"Because I don’t care and didn’t ask," the Empress said with a cold voice.

Gravis sighed again. He knew that beasts didn’t care about their offspring, but he also couldn’t fully empathize with that mindset. Well, at least he had something to look forward to now.

The news that his children were doing well encouraged Gravis more. His children were outstanding, and as their father, he couldn’t allow himself to fall behind!

"Empress, we came here for a reason," Gravis said.

"What is it?" the Empress asked.

"I am currently in the process of understanding a level two Law that will allow me to make even more powerful equipment," Gravis said. "For that Law, I need to learn about the Composition of wood and maybe even other plant materials."

The Empress narrowed her eyes. "You want to go to the bulwark," she said directly.

Gravis nodded.

The Empress remained silent for a little bit as she thought about that proposal. "As long as you don’t fight anything, I don’t have a problem with that, but you need to be careful. The bulwark is not under my control, and I won’t spend any resources to convince the Empress of the Bulwark Empire. You need to negotiate with the Plant Ultimate by yourself."

Gravis nodded. "That’s all I needed to hear."

The Empress turned to Ferris. "Ferris, your status has changed. Your new status is no longer fitting to keep watch over Gravis. I will call another Elder to keep watch over him."

Ferris looked like he had just heard that he would die. "What?" he asked in shock. "What have I done wrong?" he asked, almost fearful.

The Empress blinked a couple of times in confusion. This wasn’t a punishment. A Pre-Ascender’s time was valuable, and keeping watch over a King would be a waste of time for a Pre-Ascender.

"You didn’t do anything wrong," the Empress said with furrowed brows. "Your status is different now, and you should think about increasing your Realm and ascending to the next world. Keeping watch over a King for nearly a century is a waste of time for you."

Ferris wasn’t sure what he should do now. On the one hand, the Empress was right, but on the other hand, Gravis was the one that allowed him to reach his current power.

Not knowing what he should do, Ferris turned to Gravis. "What should I do?" he asked helplessly.

Gravis snickered a bit when he saw Ferris like this, while the Empress would have groaned if she hadn’t had to uphold her royal demeanor. A Pre-Ascender was asking a King what he should do. This was not how a Pre-Ascender should act.

"Sharpening the axe doesn’t take away time from cutting wood," Gravis said, eliciting confused looks from Ferris and the Empress.

Gravis groaned. ’They don’t know what an axe is,’ he thought helplessly as he realized that his smart words had fallen on deaf ears.

"What I mean is that learning more about the world now won’t take away any cultivation time in the higher world," Gravis explained to the Empress. "Isn’t he in my exact situation? He has just barely reached the qualifications for an Ascender, which would make him one of the weakest Ascenders from our world. So, learning more will only benefit his future."

"He might not share your goals, Gravis," the Empress said. "Nearly everyone is only interested in ascending. He may not be interested in becoming stronger than everyone."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. Then, he turned to Ferris. "What’s your goal in life, Ferris?" Gravis asked.

Ferris was a bit taken aback by that question. His previous goal had been to increase his Fire Manipulation, but he had achieved that goal now. What should he now pursue?

"What’s your goal, Gravis?" Ferris asked.

"To become the most powerful," Gravis answered immediately.

Ferris nodded. "Then, my goal is also to become the most powerful!" he said with new-found motivation.

The Empress massaged her temple with her hands in frustration. One couldn’t decide on their life-goal just like that! Yet, the Empress just couldn’t bother anymore. Ferris was even older than her, so if he wanted to decide his goal just like that, it had nothing to do with her.

"Fine," the Empress said with annoyance, "I take it that you still want to follow Gravis?"

Ferris nodded excitedly. "Yes, can I?"

The Empress sighed in frustration, no longer bothering to keep up her royal demeanor. "Sure, but remember that Gravis isn’t allowed to fight, kill, or consume another beast."

Ferris excitedly waved that comment off. "No problem, no problem!" he said with excitement. "If anyone threatens him, I will just kill them!" he said with an excited smile.

The Empress felt even more frustrated when she heard that. If he just killed anyone, this would become a political nightmare. Yet, she just couldn’t be bothered to deal with Ferris anymore. With a wave of her hand, she showed the two that they could leave.

Gravis smiled and felt great when he saw the frustration on the Empress’ face. He still remembered the frustration he had felt when Ferris came to him, proudly telling Gravis how he had understood another Law. It was nice to see someone else suffer under Ferris.

"I don’t know where the bulwark is," Gravis said as he looked at Ferris, still smiling.

"Sure! Just follow me!" Ferris shouted with excitement as he rudely shot off the mountain with his full speed, creating a powerful sound of an explosion. A strong wind hit the Empress and her throne, but she just didn’t react. She just didn’t care anymore.

"Bye," Gravis said to the Empress and followed after Ferris but with less force.

Now, it was time to go to the bulwark and talk to the Plant Ultimate!

 

Chapter 544 - 544 – The Plant Ultimate

Gravis and Ferris traveled for around two days to the north. The Empire was relatively close to the core of the continent, but not that close. The fact that they took two entire days proved as much.

The closer they got to the bulwark and the Grand Lake, the bigger the Striders seemed. Their sheer size was incredibly breathtaking. From the top of the Mountain of Pride, they hadn’t appeared as gigantic, but when they arrived at the bulwark, the Striders simply appeared massive.

Even though they were still over 200,000 kilometers away from them, the closest Strider already seemed so massive that Gravis couldn’t even see its head anymore. Its closest leg looked like a bridge that led to an entirely new world, which was its torso. The closer Gravis got, the more he could feel the sheer power of them.

"We’re nearly there, Gravis!" Ferris said with excitement. "I’ve already announced our arrival to the guards of this place. They know me, so we have no issue with entering. Don’t attack anything, and don’t release any of your power. The plants are not fans of slaughter and battles."

"No problem," Gravis said with shining eyes. He had some things that he could offer the plants, but he hoped that they would allow him to comprehend them without any payment. The reason for that was that paying a plant or a beast was difficult.

Paying a human was not an issue since Gravis would only need to hand over some treasures or currency, but plants and beasts were not interested in that. They were more interested in tempering and food.

After some more seconds, Gravis noticed that the environment had changed. A towering and wild forest appeared with trees several kilometers tall. That size surely was impressive, but Gravis had seen trees just as big in the lower world. Could plants also control their sizes?

Right now, Gravis was just two-meters tall. After all, every King could freely control their size, and most of them were always in their smallest possible size. It was just easier to travel like this.

Ferris passed the line of trees and entered the massive forest without being stopped as Gravis followed him. "Where are we going, Ferris?" Gravis asked.

"To the Empress of the Bulwark Empire, the Plant Ultimate," Ferris answered. "We first need to discuss everything with her."

"We can meet the Empress just like that?" Gravis asked.

"Sure!" Ferris answered directly. "The Plant Ultimate is a nice and welcoming being. I talked to her once before."

Gravis was a bit surprised at how easy it was to meet an Ultimate, but he accepted it. This surely would make things easier. After around a minute, the two of them reached a several-kilometer-wide clearing in the forest. The only thing present in that clearing was a humongous bed of flowers.

Gravis looked at the bed of flowers and, for some reason, felt peaceful. Some kind of harmony radiated from this place, which surprised him. ’Is this a Law?’ he asked himself in his thoughts.

Ferris landed before he entered the clearing, and Gravis did the same. Ferris knew better how to act in the presence of an Ultimate.

"Keep the weight of your body as light as possible, but don’t fly," Ferris transmitted to Gravis as he took the lead. Then, Ferris stepped into the meadow, onto the field of flowers.

Gravis watched him closely and saw that Ferris was only barely lifting his feet. Instead of walking forward, it was more like he shuffled forward. Like this, he didn’t step on any flowers but pushed them to the side instead. Of course, some of them couldn’t avoid the destiny of being stepped on, but Ferris’ body was very light right now. Even a mortal flower would survive a step from him.

Gravis copied what Ferris was doing and moved similarly. With the help of his Spirit, he was able to move more flowers out of the way than Ferris, but even with that, he still had to step on some of them. Without flying, this couldn’t be avoided.

Their speed slowed down significantly due to their new method of moving, but it still only took a couple of minutes for them to arrive in front of the Plant Ultimate.

Ferris lowered his head, and Gravis followed. Showing his respect to someone much older and much more powerful than him was not something to be ashamed about. Strength had to be respected, and even though Gravis will undoubtedly be more powerful than her in the future, right now, the Plant Ultimate deserved his respect.

What were they bowing to?

It was a 30-centimeter-tall, yellow daffodil. It was surrounded by other flowers, but interestingly, all the flowers had their heads turned away from the daffodil.

Even if one didn’t know that this was the Plant Ultimate, one’s eyes would still be drawn towards this particular flower. It just seemed... special. It didn’t look any different from a normal daffodil, but it somehow just felt different.

"Do you understand what moving through my domain means?" an ethereal voice appeared inside Gravis’ and Ferris’ minds. It sounded like nature itself was speaking, and Gravis felt like he saw the whole forest speaking to him via this one voice. It almost felt like this was not the voice of only one being.

Gravis looked back at the path he had tread through the field of flowers. His footsteps were still there, and even if he hadn’t stepped on the flowers with any weight, their bodies were still bent. His stroll to this position had left behind footprints, even though he had done his best to avoid that.

Gravis’ eyes were even and neutral as he looked at his footprints. Then, he turned to the daffodil and looked at it.

"In our journey to gain something we desire, we involuntarily leave behind a path of destruction, but as long we try to minimize the destruction, new life will grow. After some time, it will be as if we have never stepped through this field," Gravis said.

Ferris’ eyes widened in realization. Yes, this field of flowers was a very good analogy for the path of cultivation. Reaching the Plant Ultimate was impossible without stepping over plants, but they could still try to minimize the damage.

If they had recklessly stepped over the flowers without paying any attention to them, the flowers would die, and it would take a long time until new flowers grew.

The Plant Ultimate remained silent, so Gravis continued.

"To achieve what we desire, we are forced to step over others. Yet, as long as we are careful, everything will recover. If I hadn’t paid attention to these flowers while walking, I might have killed many of them. That would have been unnecessary since I managed to reach you without killing any of them regardless."

Suddenly, Gravis smiled and bowed to the Plant Ultimate again. "Thank you for the lesson, Plant Ultimate," Gravis said sincerely.

The Plant Ultimate remained silent as Gravis waited for more of her words.

WHACK!

Suddenly, Gravis was smacked by a green root that shot out of the earth. He couldn’t react to the attack and was flung to the distance until his flight was halted when he hit a mighty tree. The tree didn’t even receive a dent while Gravis felt his back hurt.

"The fuck are you on about!?" the same voice from before said in the same harmonious tone. "I’m not trying to teach you some useless-ass, morally-superior, pacifistic herbivore ideology, you dumbfuck! I meant that you better have a good fucking reason to disturb my cultivation!"

Gravis wasn’t really injured since that strike wasn’t aimed to injure him. Yet, his mind went wild with shock and confusion as he heard the words from the Plant Ultimate. Right now, the daffodil was quickly swaying around, like it was mad, which looked rather comical to him.

The Plant Ultimate saw Gravis’ stunned look. "What? Didn’t expect that, did you? You think I’ll go, ’Oh great talented youngster, you have seen through my wise and holy teachings. I shall grant you one wish’? Oh, shut up! What ’stepping carefully on your way to power’? What is this weakling shit!? You think just because I’m a flower, I’m some naïve-ass, weak-willed pacifist? Are you mocking me!?"

She rapidly said all of this with her melodious and harmonious voice, which was in stark contrast to the actual words she spoke. During all of this, her head bopped left and right in anger.

Meanwhile, Gravis only watched the Plant Ultimate with shock and horror.

 

 

Chapter 545 - 545 – Trade?

Gravis looked with shock at the Plant Ultimate. Hadn’t Ferris said that plants were not fans of slaughter? Also, hadn’t he said that the Plant Ultimate was a nice being? How come Gravis was not able to see any of these things!?

"So, you didn’t intend for me to learn this stuff," Gravis said.

"Fuck no!" the Plant Ultimate transmitted with her calm and harmonious voice. "Everything that stands between you and your path to power must be eliminated with everything you have! Everyone just doesn’t want to anger me by stepping on my body with all their power."

"Wait," Gravis said as he looked at the flowers. "This is also your body? I thought you were only this flower."

"Who do you think I am?!" the Plant Ultimate said with her melodious voice. "I’m an Ultimate! I am not only this meadow of flowers, but this entire fucking forest!"

Gravis took a deep breath when he heard that. He had expected that this was the bulwark, but in actuality, it was just the Plant Ultimate.

"Ferris! I thought we were at the bulwark!" Gravis shouted to him.

Ferris tilted his head to the side in confusion. "I didn’t say that. I said the bulwark is close, which it is."

’This guy!’ Gravis thought.

"Anyway," Gravis said as he stood up again. "Our main goal is to understand the Composition of Wood, but if you allow us to understand more, that would be even better."

The Plant Ultimate remained silent for a bit. "Why the fuck would you want to understand wood without having the affinity for it? That sounds retarded!"

Hearing a calm and harmonious voice say the word "retarded" sure felt weird to Gravis. "Because comprehending other Laws might give insights into our main Laws."

"How?" the Plant Ultimate asked directly and flatly.

"Four years ago, Ferris had only had comprehended a single level two Law. Yet, after gaining insights into steam, wind, soul, and earth, all elements that have nothing to do with his fire, he managed to comprehend a level three Law," Gravis said.

The flower’s head turned to Ferris. Gravis wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but she must be shocked right now.

"I have felt the level three Law before, but you’re saying that he achieved all that in only four years!? Are you trying to fuck with me without giving me some food first? I have to tell you that I don’t appreciate being fucked!" the Plant Ultimate said.

"It’s the truth!" Ferris said with several nods. "I’ve been stuck for over 3,000 years, and after looking at something else for a change, I managed to understand more about my own element."

"But those Laws are not useful to your Battle-Strength!" the Plant Ultimate said.

"They’re not, right," Gravis said, "but understanding them gives you more experience in understanding Laws and might give you insights into Laws that increase your Battle-Strength. After all, by looking at something that isn’t fire, Ferris managed to learn something that mixed very well with his fire. Ferris, please show her."

"Show what?" Ferris asked in confusion.

"Your Living Fire!" Gravis shouted back.

"Oh, that! Sure!" Ferris said.

BRRRR!

Three small balls of fire appeared around Ferris as they circled him. They also started inspecting several other things. One of them even came too close to the ground and started burning the flowers.

"No! Bad fire! Come back!" Ferris shouted with authority. The fireballs shrunk a bit and swirled closely around Ferris now.

The Plant Ultimate remained silent as she watched the fire. She had never seen anything even remotely like this in the entire 50,000 years she had lived.

"As you have seen," Gravis said, gaining the attention of the Plant Ultimate again. "Ferris has combined his Law of Fire Manipulation with his Law of Soul Infusion. Soul Infusion should be part of the Life Laws, something that is very different from such a destructive element as fire. Yet, Ferris managed to combine a Life Law with his Fire Law, creating a more powerful Fire Law."

The Plant Ultimate remained silent for several more seconds.

"Fuck!" she cursed with her pleasant voice. "How have I not seen this obvious shit!? Am I the retarded one!?"

Saying anything might be dangerous for Gravis, so he simply didn’t say anything.

"No, you’re not retarded, Ultimate," Ferris said, eliciting a nervous glance from Gravis. "I would have never been able to see this without Gravis’ words. Gravis is filled with wisdom, and staying with him has helped me immensely!"

The flower turned to Gravis again. "We need to talk!" she commanded.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "What about us understanding the Laws of Wood?" Gravis asked.

"Oh, come on, fuck you!" the Plant Ultimate said. "We’re only talking! Why are you so greedy for advantages!?"

Gravis didn’t avert his gaze. "Weren’t you the one that said that I should eliminate everything on my path to power? Doesn’t that mean that my gain should be more important to me than yours?" he asked.

CRRRR!

The earth started shaking violently. Obviously, the Plant Ultimate wasn’t happy about having her own words thrown at her.

"Oh, you think you’re a smartass, eh!?" she asked with her harmonious voice. "Ya think ya can fuck with this flower, eh? Ya think I’ll go ’Oh, you are right. Here take my thick flower pussy as your reward’? Dude, your head’s in the shitter if you expected that!"

CRRRRRR

The ground below the flower parted as something emerged. Gravis’ eyes widened when he saw it.

It was a green, hulking, muscular body! It looked incredibly human, but it was just way too bulky! It was almost like the Plant Ultimate had created a body of an Earth Cultivator. What the fuck was going on?

The hulking body didn’t have a head. Instead, the flower simply grew out of the chest of the muscular body, basically replacing the head.

"Yeah, guess what!" the Plant Ultimate said. "You’re right! Your gain is more important to you than my gain, but my gain is more important to me than your gain! You’ve fucked enough with me! Now, it’s time for me to fuck with you, little shitstain!"

The body gestured for Gravis to come at it. Then, it started lifting its arms in some sort of martial arts pose. Gravis almost couldn’t comprehend the current situation.

BANG!

The earth exploded as the green giant exploded forward. Surprisingly, Ferris didn’t care. Ferris had acted aggressively towards the Empress when she had looked coldly at Gravis, but this time, he simply watched.

Another surprising fact was that the Ultimate didn’t shoot at Gravis with a lot of speed. Sure, she was still about as fast as a level four King, but as a level five Emperor, she should be able to move way faster. Additionally, Gravis felt no feeling of danger from her.

’Her body is as powerful as a level three King Divine Beast. She probably wants to show the difference between her and me by fighting me while being at the same Realm,’ Gravis thought.

’I wonder if she knows that I have created my body to specifically counter humans,’ Gravis thought with a smirk.

’Oh, this will be fun!’ Gravis thought with glee as he also shot at the green giant.

 

 

Chapter 546 - 546 – A Human's Weapon

Right now, since Gravis’ body was shrunk to a size of two meters, his power had been halved. With this body, he was only double as powerful as a level two King. With the Plant Ultimate having created a Divine Beast body, her body was four times as powerful as Gravis’ body.

Whoom!

Gravis pushed all his power into his body, making it three times as powerful. With this, his opponent’s body was only 33% more powerful, a gap that wasn’t hard to overcome.

All these thoughts had happened in an instant, and the Plant Ultimate was still charging at him.

BANG!

Gravis shot forward, but he didn’t use his Spirit, Will-Aura, or lightning. This would be a purely physical fight.

The Plant Ultimate closed in on Gravis and punched forward. Gravis simply caught the punch with his left hand. Then, he jumped a bit and grabbed her other hand as well.

CRSH!

Gravis rammed his two feet downwards, right at the Plant Ultimate’s feet. The claws on his feet easily dug into her feet. With this, Gravis had caught all her appendages. She couldn’t move anything anymore.

Gravis smirked and used his long mouth to bite the flower on top of the body.

CRK!

Gravis’ teeth broke as he bit the hardest thing he had ever come into contact with. Yet, instead of feeling helpless or angry, Gravis simply jumped back again.

"If you were a level three King, you would be dead right now," Gravis said with a smirk.

"Again!" the Plant Ultimate shouted as she charged forward again with another punch.

Whoop!

Gravis easily evaded the attack with his flexible waist. "I know why you’re doing this," Gravis said.

"Enlighten me!" the Plant Ultimate said again as she performed a kick, which Gravis also dodged. He simply had way too much experience with fighting humans.

"You’ve probably seen that Ascenders can transform into humans," Gravis said as he easily dodged more attacks. "You know that you will also be able to transform into that body when you ascend, so you’re using me to gain combat experience with your future body."

The Plant Ultimate stopped attacking. "Fuck! How did you know that!? Only I have seen the last Ascender! No one else should know that they can transform their bodies! Also, what the fuck is a human!?" she asked.

Gravis only smirked. "I know a lot of things. Haven’t you heard Ferris say that I’m filled with wisdom?" he asked with mirth.

"You’re filled with shit, is what I think!" the Plant Ultimate said. "Now, stop dodging!"

Gravis didn’t comply.

"I want something in return," Gravis said between dodges.

"Oi, can’t you just enjoy the fight!? What’s with your greedy-ass attitude!?" she asked as she continued attacking.

"How about this," Gravis said. "Every time you would die, I will get one year of wood comprehension."

The Plant Ultimate continued attacking for a full minute as Gravis dodged. Ferris simply watched with interest.

"Hey, Ferris," Gravis transmitted to him. "Didn’t the Empress say that I’m not allowed to fight any beasts?"

"You’re not. She’s a plant," Ferris said. "Also, this is not even a fight since no one is in danger of dying. It’s more like a scuffle or playing. Additionally, she is an Ultimate. Her command outweighs the Empress’ command."

’Well, okay,’ Gravis thought.

After another five minutes, the Plant Ultimate became incredibly frustrated. "Fine!" she shouted with her melodious voice. "One year for every victory you get!"

"We have a deal," Gravis said with a smirk.

BANG!

Gravis used one of his dodges to turn around. Using the power of his turn, his tail smacked right into the Plant Ultimate’s abdomen, throwing her away. Her body was stunned for a bit, and Gravis used that moment to bite a huge chunk out of her abdomen.

BANG!

Then, he bisected her with his claws. After that, he simply jumped back. "One year!" Gravis shouted.

CRRRR!

Her body instantly regenerated. Then, she charged at Gravis again. She unleashed another punch, which Gravis evaded with his waist.

 

 

Gravis’ claws shot into her chest, destroying everything inside it. With another kick, he threw her body away again. "Two years!"

Her body healed again as she continued charging at him.

Over the next hour, a lot of fighting happened, with Gravis always emerging victorious.

"23 years!" Gravis shouted. Yet, he didn’t sound confident anymore. The Plant Ultimate was becoming more used to her body with frightening speed. In the beginning, Gravis only needed one or two exchanges to "kill" her, but now, he needed more than ten.

Another hour passed.

"28 years," Gravis said with an icy but concentrated voice. He couldn’t take her lightly anymore. Her growth was absolutely astonishing!

Another hour passed.

"30 years," Gravis said.

Another hour.

"32 years."

Another hour.

"34 years."

Another hour.

"36 years."

Another hour.

"That’s 38 years," Gravis said. Surprisingly, the last four hours had the Plant Ultimate losing at precisely the same frequency. This could only mean one thing. The Plant Ultimate was no longer growing more powerful.

What was the reason for that?

The reason for that was that her fighting style with her body had already reached its absolute peak. She was using 100% of her body’s potential. She was no longer just attacking directly but also used feints. Additionally, she was very good at using her waist and legs to evade.

Gravis had taken many years and many fights to become that good at using his body, but the Plant Ultimate achieved this in just a couple of hours. Gravis guessed that this was thanks to the incredibly long lifespan she had. She had probably seen more beasts fighting than Gravis had seen humans in total.

Surprisingly, after this death of hers, she no longer charged at him. Gravis couldn’t read her expression since she was a flower, but he guessed that she was probably making a decision right now.

After some more seconds, she finally said what was on her mind. "Consider yourself a smartass!" she shouted. "So, tell me, why can’t I win against you anymore?"

Gravis relaxed. "It’s your body," he said. "You are just as good at using your body as me. Yet, your body is not as combat-oriented as mine. My waist is more flexible. My hands and feet have claws. My tail protects my back and is an additional appendage that isn’t in my way. My head has teeth as a backup weapon. My legs can accelerate faster than yours."

"The only reason why you can fight with me for an entire half an hour is that your body is 33% more powerful than mine. If our bodies were just as powerful, your losing-speed would rise by over ten times," Gravis explained.

The Plant Ultimate remained silent for a bit. "Fuck!" she shouted in frustration. "So, as long as I remain in this body, I can’t win against you physically."

Gravis nodded. "Exactly! Yet, the body of a human has a power that you haven’t realized yet."

The Plant Ultimate wasn’t convinced by Gravis’ words. "And what, pray tell, is that?" she asked.

Whoom!

Gravis retrieved his saber and showed it to her. "The ability to use a weapon."

The Plant Ultimate looked at the weapon, and if she had a human face, she would probably furrow her brows. "I don’t get it," she said.

"Let’s fight again, and I will show you. No worries, I won’t count this towards my comprehension time," Gravis said.

If she hadn’t lost to Gravis so many times, she wouldn’t even entertain that thought. Yet, Gravis had proven very powerful for his level. Maybe there was something to his words.

BANG!

She charged at him again. With her increased combat-experience, she also managed to use her muscles better, making her faster.

SHING!

Gravis easily split her body in two with his saber.

CRRR!

The body regenerated. "Hey! That stick is above the level of a level three King! That’s cheating!" she said.

"No, it isn’t," Gravis said. "This is a natural material that’s just as powerful as a level three King. Additionally, I didn’t use any Laws when I made this. If I used a Law, it would be even more powerful. I simply gave the saber an edge. Here, let me show you."

BANG!

Gravis punched the side of the saber, breaking it into two pieces. "By punching its side, I was able to destroy it. It’s not harder than our bodies. Yet, by creating an edge, it’s even more powerful than teeth or claws."

Whoom! BZZZ!

Gravis summoned the destroyed tip and reforged the saber. Such a soft material didn’t take much lightning at all to reforge. "You see this?" Gravis said as he showed the reforged saber. "I can simply make more of these. It’s an easily replaceable, powerful weapon."

The Plant Ultimate remained silent for a couple of seconds. "Fuck! How is that shit even allowed!?" she shouted with frustration. "That’s way too useful and powerful!"

Gravis smirked. "That’s the power of the human body. Look at your body. You don’t have any claws or powerful teeth. Using just your body as a weapon would make you weaker than nearly any beast. Yet, if you create a weapon and use it with your hands, your body will be incredibly powerful."

The Plant Ultimate remained silent for a while.

CRRRRR!

Some roots came out of the ground and transformed into the same shape as Gravis’ weapon. Yet, the edge wasn’t nearly sharp enough.

CRRRRR!

The Plant Ultimate used her hand to grind off the wood on one side of the saber, creating a sharp edge. Then, she did some practice swings and even swung at her own arm, easily cutting it off.

"Why the fuck didn’t you say that earlier!? Now, all my previous combat experience becomes useless since I now use a completely different weapon!" she said.

Gravis only smirked. "I guess because I wanted to fuck with you," he said.

The Plant Ultimate remained silent for some more seconds. Then, her body drooped.

"At least invite me to dinner first," she said, defeated.

 

 

Chapter 547 - 547 – Finishing The Trade

If she had reacted like this a couple of hours ago, Gravis would be surprised. Yet, by now, he had a pretty solid grasp on her personality. Her direct way of saying things wasn’t meant in aggression. Gravis guessed that she probably meant these things half-jokingly and half-serious.

He also guessed that the Plant Ultimate was probably bored of all the beasts groveling at her roots. Everyone was coming to her with reverence, and seeing that conduct all the time probably bored her to death. Gravis could empathize with that mindset.

"Alright," the Plant Ultimate said, calmer now. "You can comprehend all you want, but I want more combat-experience with a weapon first."

Gravis smiled and nodded. "That sounds good, but before we begin, I first need to show you all the possible weapons that humans use."

The Plant Ultimate wanted to know how Gravis knew all these things, but if he didn’t want to tell her, she wouldn’t ask. Gravis had proven his power, and she could respect that.

Over the next day, Gravis showed her many different kinds of weapons and how to use them. He had the most experience with a saber, but he had still learned how to use the other weapons in his homeworld. Additionally, he had seen all kinds of weapons while fighting other humans.

Gravis also learned the Plant Ultimate’s name during all of this. Her name was Meadow, and she preferred that Gravis called her that. "Plant Ultimate" just sounded way too distant and formal to her.

Meadow felt most comfortable with a spear and a shield. Plants were very in tune with the earth, and maybe that’s why she also felt most comfortable with the weapon combination that earth cultivators used.

Then, Meadow and Gravis fought for several hours. In the beginning, Gravis won the battles very quickly, but just like their previous fights, Meadow’s combat-experience with her weapons was growing at an astonishing rate.

In the end, the fights took even longer than their purely physical battles, but Gravis still always won. Even if they used weapons now, one couldn’t forget Gravis’ other weapons. A fight between weapon-users involved more than simply the weapon. Kicks, punches, shoving, and similar attacks were also relevant, and when it came down to these attacks, Gravis could fall back on his claws.

When Meadow asked why she just wasn’t able to win against him, Gravis decided to tell her his backstory. Meadow had proved to be quite straightforward and honest. Additionally, Ferris had a talent for finding trustworthy beings. Ferris had said that Meadow was a nice being, and that had proven true, even though her way of being nice was not the usual way.

After hearing an abridged version of Gravis’ story, she realized why she couldn’t win. Gravis had basically created an upgraded version of a human’s body. His body that the same strengths as a human’s body but eliminated all the disadvantages. His body was simply better.

If they only used physical combat, there was no way for her to win with an equally powerful body. That was when Laws came into play. Every being would reach their maximum potential with their body at some point, and it simply wasn’t possible to push a body beyond 100% of its ability. That was why Laws became so important.

Meadow didn’t require any combat experience with her Laws. Because of that, they didn’t start fighting with their Laws. Yet, Meadow was pretty happy with all her gains.

If they had still been Spirit Beasts or weaker, such an extended period of sparring might have dulled their sense of danger. Yet, both Gravis and Meadow had fought so many times with their lives on the line in the past that this sparring session had no adverse effect on them. If someone did something for an extended period of time, they would never lose their edge.

"Alright, that should cover everything," Meadow said. "You’ve been a huge help, and you’re not such a huge pussy as all the other beasts. I like that! You can learn all you want about plants and wood."

Gravis nodded. "Thanks," he said.

Then, another discussion broke out about why Gravis said thanks, and it ended with Gravis saying that he liked thanking others. Meadow simply said, "ew, don’t infect me with that pussy-shit," and went back to her usual spot. Her hulking body buried into the ground, and now, only the flower was visible above-ground.

Gravis only smiled and turned to Ferris. "Alright, we can start now."

"Oi oi oi, you deaf or something?" Meadow suddenly asked. "I said you can comprehend the Laws, but not your over-excited boy-toy."

Gravis groaned and turned to Meadow again. "Really? You really wanna do me like this?" he asked, his speech obviously having been influenced by Meadow.

"Ya, Imma do you exactly like this. What you gonna do about it?" Meadow asked smugly.

Gravis scratched his chin in thought.

"Gravis, it’s okay," Ferris said. "I don’t need to comprehend plants."

"Ferris!" Gravis said with slight aggression, "You are using up your time by following me! I can’t have you wasting your time like this! You need to comprehend something, at least!"

Ferris scratched his ear in discomfort, but he decided to remain silent.

"Hey, Meadow," Gravis said.

"Sup?" she asked.

"I’ve got something you might be interested in," Gravis said with a smirk.

"Oh? What could you possibly have that will interest me? You’re a fucking weak-ass level three King," she said.

"How about a Lord Plant that you have never seen before?" he asked.

"Dude, I don’t know all the fucking plants in this world. That’s not hard to do," Meadow answered.

"I do not mean the specific plant," Gravis said with a smirk. "I’m talking about the kind, as in, a kind of plant that you have never seen before."

"Pfft," Meadow uttered. "As if you have something like that. Bitch, I ain’t fast, but I’ve been all around the world. I’ve seen all the kinds of plants in the world. Peddle your cheap shit somewhere else."

Gravis only continued smirking. "This plant isn’t from this world," Gravis said.

"Wait, what?" Meadow asked. "Does that mean that this plant is from your homeworld?" she asked.

"It sure is," Gravis said.

"Huh," Meadow simply uttered neutrally. "Well, aight, if I truly haven’t seen the plant before, your furry boy-toy can also look at my stuff."

BOOOOOOM!

The clouds parted as something truly gigantic appeared. This thing was nearly a thousand kilometers wide, way bigger than any beast Gravis had ever seen, except for the Striders. What was this?

This was the Common Fungus!

Ever since Gravis dissolved the River Tribe, the Common Fungus had become irrelevant. Gravis couldn’t feed it since he needed all the food for himself, and he also didn’t need to dig more rivers. Due to that, the Common Fungus simply grew wildly inside his Life Ring.

Gravis kept the Common Fungus flying above the forest since it couldn’t fly by itself. Plants were different from beasts and humans. Flying only became possible for them when they managed to reach the Immortal Realm. After all, that’s when they could create human bodies.

CRRRR!

Gigantic roots came out of the forest as they took hold of the Common Fungus. Then, they pulled it into the ground and buried it fully. "That’s neat!" Meadow said.

Gravis simply smiled. "It’s called the Common Fungus since it’s the most common fungus in my homeworld. Quite the straightforward name. It’s currently under the control of my Artifact. I will release it from its control, so it might decide to attack me as revenge. If you don’t want it to die, don’t let it touch me."

Whooop!

Gravis released his control, but nothing happened. Gravis blinked a couple of times. "It doesn’t want to attack me?" Gravis asked.

"Oh, it’s trying its best to attack you," Meadow said. "I’m simply not letting it. I don’t want you to break my new toy!"

"Anyway," Meadow said, "your little friend can also comprehend plants and wood."

CRRRRR!

A quarter of the forest vanished but was quickly replaced with a different forest. There were all kinds of different trees, flowers, and all kinds of plants in that area. Additionally, they all felt way weaker than before.

"I replaced that quarter of the forest with all the plants and wood I know. You can do whatever the fuck you want with that part. Knock yourself out, but don’t expect me to blush like some maiden if you keep staring at me with your lusty eyes," Meadow said.

"Pfft, you wish!" Gravis said. "You think I’m interested in having splinters in my dick?"

"You asshole! After all I have done for you," Meadow answered in mock-anger.

Gravis only smiled and gestured for Ferris to follow him. Ferris’ tail wagged happily in excitement as he followed Gravis to the newly created forest.

"Time to understand some plants," Gravis said.

 

Chapter 548 - 548 – Setting A Goal

Gravis and Ferris walked to the new forest and looked at it in wonder. All kinds of trees and plants could be seen. The trees had different forms, colors, and they even felt different. It was almost like all plants in the world could be found here.

Gravis immediately realized how valuable such a place was. Understanding living things was way harder than understanding dead things. It wasn’t that the Laws were more complicated, but that one had to experiment a lot. Nothing dead would be able to resist someone touching and destroying it, but something alive would have a lot of objections.

Additionally, living things often walked around and became more powerful. If Gravis wanted to understand the Laws regarding Life without this place, he would need to hunt and enslave many beings, and Gravis didn’t want to do that. He wasn’t a huge fan of killing beings that hadn’t shown hostility towards him.

Luckily, this whole forest was only a single being, Meadow. Meadow was incredibly old, and she had probably comprehended an unreal amount of Laws regarding Life. Plants naturally understood more and more powerful Laws as time passed. Yet, they could also comprehend additional Laws, but it wasn’t a necessity.

All other Ultimates had their paths nearly completely severed, but Meadow, as a plant, simply had to wait. This meant that Meadow was the only Ultimate that would become an Ascender, but that wasn’t everything.

Since Meadow had lived for such a long time, she had probably understood even more Laws than all other Ultimates. This probably made her the most powerful Ultimate out of all of them. Nothing but Heaven or a vengeful Ascender could kill her in this world. Who knew, maybe she had already comprehended so many level two Laws that she could actually kill a Strider but just didn’t want to?

Gravis guessed that Meadow had probably already comprehended an incredible amount of level two Laws. She probably understood nearly all level two Laws regarding plants.

One had to remember that there was more to a plant than simply its composition. Gravis didn’t know the specific Laws, but there were probably also Laws regarding more powerful versions of wood. Maybe there was a level two Law for each part of a plant? There might also be a level two Law regarding roots alone.

"Hey, Meadow," Gravis said, "can you choose which Laws you want to comprehend?" he asked.

"What’s with that stupid-ass question? I’m a living being, you fucktard! Of course I can choose which Law I want to comprehend," her melodious voice appeared in Gravis’ mind.

"And since you have been in this world for over 50,000 years, you’ve probably decided to first understand as many level two Laws as possible, right?" Gravis asked.

"Of course!" she answered. "I don’t wanna get fucked up as soon as I reach the next world. I can live for ten times longer than you weak-ass bitches, and I’m gonna use all of it in this world! My longevity will increase anyway when I ascend."

"Quite smart," Gravis commented as he scratched his chin.

"Oh wow, the small King-boy finally managed to realize that not everyone has their heads as far up their own ass as he! Truly, what a marvelous step forward! Maybe you won’t understand a Law regarding Plants next, but a Law regarding your own widely stretched asshole," she said, her harmonious voice somehow showing her sarcasm very well.

Gravis actually had to laugh at that comment. He obviously didn’t mean it like that, and he most certainly did not look down upon the older beings in this world. He had just recently gotten a reminder of the wisdom of his seniors. Yet, he didn’t engage in the conversation. He had plants to comprehend!

Meadow’s answer had cleared Gravis’ mind. Since she could choose which Laws she wanted to comprehend, it probably meant that she aimed to understand as many level two Laws as possible. The number of level two Laws she had managed to comprehend was probably higher than any other beast in this world.

’This also explains the huge variety of plants in this new forest,’ Gravis thought. ’Obviously, all of these plants are part of Meadow’s body, yet they all feel like they are their own beings. This is not something that just anyone can do.’

Gravis went to the first flower he saw and plucked it. Meadow didn’t make a sound, which probably meant that she didn’t care. After all, she had said that he could do whatever he wanted in this forest.

The flower floated in front of Gravis, and he looked at it with intense interest. First, he looked at its outside and then also used his Spirit to look at its inside. He looked at it for several minutes in interest.

Gravis looked at the forest again and noticed that an identical flower had already grown at the same spot. ’Meadow is probably giving me an endless supply of flowers, which wasn’t part of our deal. Sure enough, she’s actually a kind soul deep inside,’ Gravis thought with a smile.

Gravis didn’t decide to confront Meadow with his thoughts. If he did that, she might say that this was only an accident and would stop producing more flowers.

BZZZ!

Gravis summoned some weak lightning and looked at what happened to the flower. A lot of smoke appeared as the flower burned away. Additionally, with Gravis’ excellent control, he managed to make the lightning just powerful enough to burn one material at a time.

Gravis looked at the different kinds of gasses that were being produced by him burning the flower. By now, he had enough experience to accurately judge what kind of materials were left behind and what materials transformed into gasses.

This burning and stopping repeated multiple times, and Gravis harvested samples of all the materials to experiment further. Keeping them isolated was no issue with his Spirit.

After that, Gravis plucked the same flower another ten times, repeating the process. Since the burning was very slow and gradual, this whole process took over five minutes. Yet, Gravis managed to understand a lot regarding the Composition of Flowers.

Then, Gravis simply studied the same flower but didn’t pluck it. Gravis couldn’t waste such an incredible opportunity! This was a paradise when one wanted to comprehend all kinds of Laws regarding Life. Comprehending only the Composition of Wood would be a gigantic waste!

Gravis planned to understand much more. His father had said that Gravis shouldn’t concentrate on only one thing. He had also said that the Initial Laws were more important than the more powerful ones since they opened the doors to other, more powerful Laws.

The Composition of Wood, referring to the material, was not its own Law. The Composition of Wood, referring to the material, was part of the Medium Pure Material Law and the Elemental Wood Composition Law.

The element of wood could take many more forms than natural wood. Additionally, the wood element was also related to the soul. Gravis hadn’t forgotten his fight with the High Priest and how he had appeared in Gravis’ Spirit Space.

After seeing this incredible forest, Gravis decided to understand much more than just the Composition of Wood.

’This time, I will understand the Elemental Wood Composition Law, which should be a level one Law. When I know that, I should also be able to understand the Medium Pure Material Law. Yet, this will only be a small part of what I’m here for,’ Gravis thought.

’I have comprehended the Organ Growth Law, which should be part of the Organ Law, which should be a level two Law. The same thing should hold true for Muscles, Bones, Blood, and Skin. Then, these five level two Laws should combine into the Law of the Body, which would be a level three Law.’

’Plants should have something similar. There are probably Laws associated with the roots, wood, stem, leaves, and maybe even petals. All of these parts should have at least three level one Laws associated with them, which would then combine into a level two Law. Then these level two Laws would probably create a level three Law, which would be the Law of the Plant.’

’Of course, my goal isn’t that grand. There are multiple ways to combine Laws, and one level one Law can go into multiple level two Laws. I can combine all the Laws of Organs into a level two Law, but I’m sure that I can also combine all the Composition Laws of a body into another level two Law.’

’So, this time, my goal is not only to comprehend the Medium Pure Material Law but also to Comprehend the entire Plant Composition Law, which should be a level two Law. Additionally, by seeing the plants regrow, I might also understand more general Life Laws, like growth or something similar.’

’Also, my knowledge about plants is not as superficial as I have thought,’ Gravis thought with a smirk. ’I totally forgot that I have looked at the CMO for a long time, and it also produces plant materials from time to time.’

Gravis’ eyes shone as he looked at the entire forest. ’So, my minimum goal is to comprehend, at least, seven level one Laws and maybe even a level two Law. I think I’m experienced enough to comprehend the level one Laws without going through a life and death fight, but the level two Law probably can’t be completed until I’m able to temper myself again.’

Gravis’ smirk intensified as he threw a glance at the excited Ferris, who was currently sniffing a flower.

’Watch out, Ferris! This time, I’m the one that’s going to annoy you to death with new Laws I managed to comprehend!’

 

 

Chapter 549 - 549 – Composition Of Elements

Contrary to what one might believe, Ferris didn’t immediately understand another Law as soon as he arrived here. He probably also didn’t have much experience with plants, which was why he was also taking a long time to understand any Laws related to them.

Gravis looked at all the plants surrounding him and observed them based on their position, not their kind. Gravis wanted to understand a lot of Laws anyway. Concentrating on only a single kind might actually be harder than looking at all of them. By now, Gravis knew very well that a lot of knowledge about one topic might cross into another. Trying to understand the whole thing would be better than understanding only a part of it.

Due to that, Gravis started the long track of understanding Laws.

Two years passed.

"Hey, Gravis! I managed to understand a Law!" Ferris said as he arrived besides Gravis.

Instead of lamenting his own progress, Gravis only smirked. He knew that he wouldn’t understand any new Laws for quite a few years since he wasn’t concentrating on anything in particular, but that would change in the future. This situation could best be described with the proverb: Sharpening one’s axe didn’t take away time from cutting wood. Gravis was preparing himself.

"That’s great, Ferris," Gravis said with a smile. "What did you understand?"

Ferris looked incredibly excited with his tail wagging crazily. "I think I managed to comprehend one of the Laws that you want to understand," Ferris said.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it?"

"It’s the Composition of Wood," Ferris said. "I haven’t nearly seen as much wood as I have seen other elements in my life, but I have seen the bulwark fight a couple of times. Additionally, with my fire, I have seen how wood breaks down."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. Ferris had just managed to comprehend the Composition Law of another element. Had any beast ever even tried to do this in this world?

"That’s indeed one of the Laws I’m interested in," Gravis commented. "Hey, Ferris. Could you show me what you can do with that Law?"

Gravis wasn’t entirely sure if these Composition Laws had any kind of benefit towards one’s Battle-Strength when they came from a different element. By understanding the Composition Law of one’s own Element, one would be able to summon their element with less Energy cost. Yet, if one wasn’t able to use the element, that advantage would become useless.

"Sure thing, Gravis!" Ferris shouted with excitement. Then, he touched a tree with one of his claws.

SSSHHHH!

The wood on the tree quickly turned into dust, which was blown away by the wind. Only the leaves, roots, and water canals inside the tree remained behind.

BANG!

The remainder of the tree hit the ground as it collapsed without the support of the wood. Gravis watched this happen in interest.

"Hey, Meadow. Could you summon a tree more powerful than Ferris so he can try the same thing on that one?" Gravis asked. The tree had been far weaker than Ferris, and Gravis doubted that the same thing would work with a more powerful tree.

"Whooptie-fucken-do, the furry boy is now a full-fledged gardener. Sadly, he doesn’t know that he’s supposed to nurture plants and not turn them into dust," Meadow said with sarcasm. "Truly, a great loss to the plant community."

"But a great gain to the beast community," Gravis said with a smirk.

CRR!

A new tree appeared at the spot of the old one, but this one was way more powerful.

"What about world-peace, you cold, unfeeling brute!? Where has your love for all things living gone?" Meadow asked in mock-anger.

The banter between Meadow and Gravis continued for a bit, and when they were done, Gravis told Ferris that he should try the same thing again.

Ferris touched the tree, and it shook a bit. Yet, it was still in one piece. Gravis looked at it while scratching his chin in thought. "What were you able to do, Ferris?" Gravis asked.

"The tree is at the level of a level four Emperor," Ferris said. "That’s far beyond my power, but I managed to weaken the wood. Right now, the tree should only be as hard as a level three Emperor."

Gravis nodded. "If you ever fight a plant or a beast using wood as a weapon or shield, this will be incredibly useful. Yet, against any other opponent, this Law won’t make any difference."

Ferris scratched his ear. "I guess so," he said.

Yet, Gravis only smirked. "If every element were distributed with the same likelihood, 10% of your opponents would be weakened by you. After all, there are nine elements and beasts without any elemental affinities."

"But!" Gravis said loudly, "weakening one’s opponent is an entirely different power scaling than strengthening yourself. Your own strengthening always takes your base power into account."

"For example, if I use everything I have and put it into speed, I would be able to move around 50 times faster for an instant while using up a ton of Energy. Pushing that to 51 times is basically impossible for me."

"If I would fight a beast three levels above myself, their body would be around 64 times more powerful than mine. If their speed is a bit above average for their level, they would be a slight bit faster than me since my speed is very fast for my level."

"Yet, if they had the wood element, by simply weakening them by an entire level, they wouldn’t be 64 times as powerful, but only 16 times. In that sense, I would be many times faster than them."

Gravis said these things half to Ferris but also half to himself. Gravis often talked to himself when he was thinking. "This is a very specialized counter Law," Gravis said. "If I don’t fight someone with a wood element, it is totally useless, but if I fight one, it’s about as powerful as a level two Law. What an interesting power dynamic," Gravis said.

Ferris only scratched himself. "Yeah, but you have to touch the enemy first," Ferris said. "Chances are that if you touch your enemy to weaken them, they would directly kill you if they are so much more powerful."

Instead of confirming Ferris’ words, Gravis’ smirk only widened.

"Oh, fuck," Meadow suddenly interjected. "That’s fucking unfair! Did you suck a God’s dick or something to be born a human!?" Meadow asked with frustration.

Gravis had told Meadow his backstory, so she knew his powers. Gravis only had to laugh when he heard Meadow. "That’s right!" he shouted. "I have a Spirit! This means that I don’t have to touch the enemy to use it! Any enemy that comes close to me with that element will be weakened!"

Ferris’ eyes widened as he finally understood why Gravis smirked. Yes, he didn’t have to touch the enemy since he had a Spirit. For the first time, Ferris felt envious of Gravis a bit. Yet, he was also happy for him.

Suddenly, Gravis’ laughter halted as if he had been frozen. Then, his face turned into a grimace.

"Fuck!" he said in frustration. "My body is lightning, and if I fight another human that knows the Lightning Composition Law for my kind of lightning, wouldn’t they also be able to weaken me!?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Meadow was laughing crazily as she heard that. "Serves you right! Hey, ever heard the phrase, advantages can have disadvantages? It’s quite an accurate phrase!" she said.

Gravis only looked with disgust at his surroundings as Meadow continued laughing.

"Honestly, I might start hating this phrase if this continues," Gravis muttered.

Ferris was only scratching himself as if nothing of importance was happening. "So what?" Ferris asked. "Your body is made of Punishment Lightning. As far as I know, Punishment Lightning is a level three Law that you have to understand in one single go and isn’t comprised of weaker Laws. This means that there is no Composition Law for Punishment Lightning."

"So, your enemy literally has to understand the Law of Punishment Lightning and be a human to do that to you," Ferris said.

Gravis wasn’t encouraged by these words because he remembered something his father had said in the past. "Punishment Lightning is a pretty popular element," was what he had said.

Additionally, Gravis also remembered that Ferris had managed to weaken a more powerful tree than him. The tree before that had been turned into ashes. If someone a level or Realm above Gravis understood Punishment Lightning...

Suddenly, this conversation was no longer funny. If someone understood Punishment Lightning, chances were very high that they were a lightning cultivator. Wasn’t Gravis the perfect counter to lightning cultivators?

Yes, but not in the way one might think.

Gravis could absorb and control their lightning, but in comparison to beasts with a lightning affinity, humans weren’t filled with pure lightning. They had Energy inside their dantians and transformed that Energy into lightning. At most, Gravis could make the converter, which converted Energy to lightning, explode. Sadly, that converter probably wasn’t powerful enough to kill the user.

The cultivator would lose their lightning element, but they would still be alive, and being alive was everything they needed to be to turn Gravis into nothingness. Of course, their power had to be above him first. The question was, how far above him?

Suddenly, Gravis’ eyes shone. ’The Will-Aura!’ he concluded. ’They are using their Spirit and will as a medium to scatter and destroy my will. So, logically, if their Will-Aura after the level suppression is more powerful than mine, I will die. If we are about the same, I will probably be severely weakened.’

Slowly, Gravis realized that his situation wasn’t as bad as he had thought. ’Additionally, others are not able to feel that my body is comprised of lightning. As long as they don’t know that my body is made of lightning, they won’t just randomly try to scatter it with the Punishment Lightning Law.’

Gravis sighed again. ’This means that I actually need to keep my powers a secret in the next world. I’m not a fan of that, but sure, I can deal with that.’

’Also, I should probably increase the priority of my Will-Aura even more.’

 

 

 

Chapter 550 - 550 – Composition

With this brief intermission over, Gravis returned to understanding more about plants and life in general. Yet, there was one last thing that he had noticed about his situation.

’Heaven can use lightning, and I know for sure that it has a Will-Aura and a Spirit. If it didn’t have a Will-Aura, the Heavenly Pressure of the Heavenborn in the lower world wouldn’t have worked. This means that my fight against Heaven might actually be more dangerous than I had initially thought,’ Gravis thought.

’I need to increase my Will-Aura to a point where Heaven can’t weaken me anymore. Otherwise, I might die in our fight. Yet, that’s a problem for when I increase my Realm again. Right now, I need to concentrate on the Laws in front of me,’ Gravis thought as he looked at the forest.

Gravis threw everything else out of his mind and only looked at the plants in front of him.

Six years passed.

Right now, Gravis had been at his current level for about twelve years, but it didn’t feel like it. Sure, the beginning of trying to understand a new Law always felt long, but the more he concentrated on something, the faster the time passed. During these six years, Ferris managed to comprehend another Law.

By now, Gravis knew a lot more about plants than before. Now, he was also sure what Laws were part of the plant-body. Roots, flowers, wood, leaves, and the "organs" were what made plants. The organ part referred to the water canals that moved nutritions and water from point A to point B. They also served as a storage for the wood element and Energy.

These five parts should each have a Law of Composition associated with them in addition to some other Laws that Gravis wasn’t interested in currently.

Gravis looked at the forest again, noticing that he had barely seen 10% of its total. There were 90% more to go! The variety and size of this forest were insane!

Eight years passed.

By now, Gravis had been in this forest for 16 years in total, and he had seen about 25% of it. His progress was becoming faster as he managed to understand more.

Another eight years passed.

After 24 years in total, Gravis managed to understand about 50% of the plants in this forest. Ferris had also understood another Law during this time. Of course, obviously, his progress had slowed.

’Just wait, Ferris!’ Gravis thought with burning eyes.

Another eight years passed.

After 32 years total, Gravis understood around 96% of all the plants in this forest. By now, he felt like he was about to understand several Laws. The feeling of being on the cusp of understanding another Law was as powerful as never before. Gravis was feeling it. He was so INCREDIBLY close to understanding all the underlying principles!

Yet, Gravis didn’t concentrate on trying to understand the Laws. First, he wanted to understand every single plant in this forest. Theoretically, he might be able to force a comprehension with his current knowledge, but he wanted to know as much as possible before doing it. This way was safer.

Another two years passed.

It had been 34 years since Gravis had got here. This had been his longest session of comprehension he had ever done. Inside this forest, it almost felt like time wasn’t passing. No beasts came, and no one was fighting. It was like this forest was completely cut off from the outside world.

Gravis put down the last flower he hadn’t seen yet and closed his eyes. Then, he went through everything he knew about these plants over the next hour. Inside his mind, he was listing the attributes and workings of all the plants one by one. Even with his incredibly fast Spirit, he still required a full hour to do that.

After Gravis was done, his head felt like it was about to explode. It wanted to think about the connections of the different components so badly!

Now, it was finally time!

Gravis opened his eyes and looked at the forest as a whole.

His eyes darted over all the plants and also looked at how they were connected to each other. Some of the plants were in a symbiotic relationship with others. With his new knowledge, he knew exactly how these symbiotic relationships worked.

BOOOOM!

Suddenly, Gravis felt his mind go wild as all his scattered understanding about the "organs" of plants fused together into a single concept.

’This is not the end!’ Gravis thought as he looked at the roots with his Spirit. He saw how they all absorbed water and how they acted upon the surrounding earth. He saw how some more powerful roots were able to absorb water from weaker roots. Beneath the calm surface, a great war for resources was taking place.

BOOOOM!

Gravis understood another Law as the scattered knowledge about the roots fused together into a single concept.

Next, Gravis looked at the leaves of the trees and flowers and noted how the provided nutrients by the roots and "organs" got transformed into Energy. Plants were not only absorbing Energy from the surroundings but were also converting water and nutrients into Energy. Beasts and humans weren’t able to do that.

BOOOOM!

The Law of Leaf Composition appeared in Gravis’ mind.

Then, Gravis looked at the flowers and fruits growing on the trees. He saw the exact workings of how a flower slowly transformed into a fruit. Yet, not all the flowers transformed into fruit. Some flowers worked similarly to leaves, but instead of producing Energy, they produced the wood element. If the plant needed to fight, the saved-up wood element and Energy would fuse to become an attack.

BOOOOM!

Gravis understood the Law of Flower Composition. This was his fourth Law that he managed to understand in only a couple of minutes. His long time of preparation had not gone to waste!

Now, it was time for the hardest part!

Wood was special since it crossed over into a different Element. The other components of plants were purely physical, while the wood crossed over into the elemental category of Laws. Just understanding the wood on a plant wasn’t enough.

Gravis looked at how the saved-up wood element inside the trees fused with the Energy to increase the power of their barks. The Composition of the bark was partly made-up of nutrients and the Composition of the Wood Element.

BOOOOM!

Gravis understood something, but it was different than what he had thought.

This was not the Composition of the Wood Element, but the Composition of the Bark!

The bark of the trees was not the same as the Composition of the Wood Element! This surprised Gravis since he had thought that it would be the same.

’Sure enough, the Composition of an Element is different from the Composition of a physical material,’ Gravis thought.

’I can’t stop now! I need to use my momentum to get the Composition of the Wood Element too!’ Gravis thought with burning eyes.

Gravis fully concentrated on how the wood element acted when it transformed into physical wood. Gravis also thought back to the time when the High Priest had invaded his Spirit Space. The soul was also part of the wood element! He had to keep that in mind!

’No wonder Ferris managed to understand the Composition of the Wood Element that quickly. He already has managed to comprehend the Law of Soul Infusion,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis kept staring at the trees for several hours. By now, his eyes were bloodshot, and he felt an incredible pain in his mind. He was straining his concentration to the breaking point.

CRRRR!

Suddenly, a new tree quickly grew out of the ground. Gravis hadn’t seen this kind of tree before, which surprised him. He saw the tree rapidly sucking in an unreal amount of resources and Energy. It produced an incredible amount of wood element and Energy in just a short amount of time.

Then, all the saved-up wood element and Energy seemingly vanished into nothingness. The bark of the tree wasn’t growing harder or anything. All the wood element and Energy seemingly simply vanished!

CRRRR!

Gravis noticed that the trees closest to the new tree started growing more bark. Yet, their Energy and wood element expenditure didn’t fit the amount of new, powerful bark being produced.

’This tree!’ Gravis thought with burning eyes. ’This tree is somehow able to transfer its own wood element to other trees without even touching them. Yet, it doesn’t have a Spirit! This shouldn’t be possible!’

Gravis’ mind was going wild again as he looked at the display before him. What was this connection that allowed the tree to seemingly teleport its own wood element to others!?

’What is this connection!?’ Gravis thought. ’This should also be how the High Priest managed to invade my Spirit Space. He forcefully connected his Spirit with my Spirit. Yet, what does this connection have to do with the wood element? I can’t see how wood has anything to do with this kind of connection!’

’If I had fought with the High Priest on the outside, I might’ve been able to see how he summons wood to attack. Yet, I have never seen him summon any wood,’ Gravis thought as he tried everything to make the connection.

’Actually, I have seen some plants fight, but they always only fight by manipulating their own bodies to create powerful and flexible appendages. Yet, that is not the element of wood. That’s the element of wood transformed into bark. There is a huge difference!’

’So, how would they use the wood element to fight? They can’t heal others with the wood element. Additionally, they always combine the wood element inside their bodies with nutrients to create weapons for themselves. Then, they attack physically, but that doesn’t mean that they’re attacking with the wood element.’

’The only way of attacking I have seen is how the High Priest managed to connect our Spirits. It’s almost like the wood element is only this connection,’ Gravis thought with frustration.

Yet, suddenly, his eyes opened wide. ’Wait, why not, actually? Maybe the wood element doesn’t refer to actual wood but to the ability to connect with something?’

’Yes, that’s it!’

BOOOOM!

The wood element had nothing to do with actual wood. Its main usage was to create actual wood, which was why it was named the wood element. Yet, in reality, the wood element wasn’t wood at all. The wood element was simply the ability to harmonize and connect with something else.

Gravis realized all of this now, and he managed to comprehend the Composition Law of Elemental Wood.

Gravis took a deep breath, but he felt like he was about to explode with happiness deep inside. He managed to understand the hardest Law that he wanted to understand, except for the level two Law of Plant Composition.

Gravis closed his eyes in peace and reset his mind. ’Now, for the last thing,’ he thought.

He thought back to all the materials he understood. Then, the Composition Law of Bark appeared inside his mind, which was more than enough to supplement the wood component of the Medium Pure Material Law.

Gravis smirked.

BOOOOM!

And with that, Gravis also understood the Medium Pure Material Law.

38 years had passed since Gravis had comprehended his previous Law, which had been the Law of Organ Growth.

38 years had passed, and Gravis hadn’t understood a single Law during that time.

Now, Gravis had managed to comprehend seven Laws in only a couple of hours.