Ch. 611..620

Chapter 611 - 611 – Friend

BOOOOOOOM!

After some months, an explosion suddenly occurred, which took Gravis out of his thoughts. He had thought about his situation and his decision in detail but couldn’t come to an answer. Surprisingly, the sudden explosion even startled him.

Gravis had always been careful and had always been ready to be attacked, which was why he never got startled by anything. Still, with the quiet atmosphere of nature as a constant companion, Gravis became careless.

Gravis looked over to where the explosion came from, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

One of the Striders had just been killed by a powerful explosion of fire.

Someone was about to ascend?

Gravis quickly connected the dots and sighed in relief. Then, he smiled.

On top of the Strider stood a red wolf with dominance. The wolf was still very energetic and still had a lot of power left over after killing the Strider.

"Ferris," Gravis transmitted to the wolf.

Ferris looked up, then looked around in confusion, and finally found Gravis.

Ferris instantly beamed with excitement and shot directly at Gravis. He was so fast that Gravis couldn’t even react.

PACK!

Ferris reached him and accidentally pushed him away with his paws, resulting in Gravis shooting away.

"Whoops. That was not on purpose," Ferris quickly said as he arrived beside the downed Gravis.

Gravis only had to laugh at Ferris. Ferris truly hadn’t changed one bit.

"I’m happy to see you, Ferris," Gravis said as he righted himself again.

Ferris’ tail wagged happily as he smiled with excitement. "Same to you, Gravis," he said. "How have you been? Have you learned more Laws? How many Laws have you learned?"

Gravis chuckled a bit. "I learned some Laws. Come on, let’s sit down and talk for a bit."

"Sure thing, Gravis," Ferris said as he sat down.

Then, Gravis and Ferris talked about a lot of stuff over the next day.

After Ferris had left Gravis, he had roamed around, just looking for an opponent. First, he went to the sea beasts and rained carnage down upon them. It didn’t matter if a beast did something to him or not. To Ferris, all other beasts that were not companions were just food.

With this, he fought a ton of sea beasts until he became powerful enough to fight level four Emperors. At that point, he ate enough from the sea beasts until he became a level four Emperor himself and then some.

Yet, at that point, it became very difficult for Ferris to find any level four Emperor sea beasts. It was like they were all hiding from him. He couldn’t even find the Ultimates from the sea beasts.

So, Ferris simply decided to go to the land beasts. It didn’t matter that he had once been part of the land beast camp. He was no longer part of that camp, which meant that he could kill and eat them without any bad feelings.

Yet, that was the moment when the Ultimate’s Meet started. At that point, all the level four Emperor land beasts had been gathered in the core of the world. Ferris knew that he couldn’t just attack someone there. He could fight one Ultimate, but two or more would be an issue. So, Ferris decided to wait.

After the Ultimate’s Meet had been over, Ferris found two level four Emperors from the land beast camp and ate them. With this, he would only need four more to become a level five Emperor and leave this world.

"But guess what," Ferris said, "When I searched for my next opponent, the Lightning Ultimate visited me."

Gravis raised an eyebrow. That should have happened about 15 years ago when Gravis had been tempering himself with the help of Styr.

"What did he want?" Gravis asked.

"He was angry that I was weakening the land beasts so much and told me to go hunt sea beasts," Ferris said with his usual excited voice. "Then I said that I will do whatever I want and that I don’t want to hunt sea beasts right now."

"Man, you should have seen him," Ferris said. "He got like, super pissed. I guess he had some built-up anger that he wanted to release, so he directly attacked me."

Gravis narrowed his eyes when he heard that. "What happened?" he asked.

"I ate him, isn’t it obvious?" Ferris asked with a confused voice.

Gravis blinked a couple of times. "Huh," he uttered. "That actually is obvious."

"Yeah. Anyway, he was really delicious, and he allowed me to become a level five Emperor. After that, I went to some Law Comprehension Areas that I still hadn’t finished yet to comprehend some more Laws. Then, yesterday, I went to the Icy Pride Empire to visit you one last time, and I have been told that you were here."

Gravis smiled when he heard that Ferris still wanted to visit him, even though his dream was so close at hand. Yet, his smile transformed into a smirk. "Then, why did you kill a Strider?"

Ferris scratched his ear in embarrassment. "Well, when I saw the Striders, I grew excited and wanted to see if I can kill one. I swear, I would have searched for you after that!" Ferris said with a defensive tone near the end.

"I believe you, Ferris," Gravis said with a chuckle.

’Fate can be unpredictable,’ Gravis thought. ’If Meadow hadn’t stopped the Lightning Ultimate back then, I would have killed him. Then, he no longer dared to do anything against me. Even when I comprehended his Laws, he only ignored me. I was fine with that, and I wouldn’t have killed him just because of that.’

’Yet, even though he had dodged a bullet, he just had to seek out another one. He was probably frustrated that two other Emperors know the Law of Punishment Lightning while he doesn’t. Then came his conflict with me, and lastly came his embarrassing "fight" against Meadow. He probably had a belly full of anger.’

’He saw three other Ultimates and the Inferno Emperor becoming Immortals while he was stuck here. Then, after all of this, he saw another Ascender that was about to overtake him. He probably wanted to prove to himself that he was not worthless and that he was still a powerful Ultimate. Sadly, he had to attack Ferris, who is already very powerful, even for an Ascender.’

Gravis looked at Ferris with shining eyes as Ferris looked with confusion at Gravis. ’The Inferno Immortal has advanced too fast. He has probably comprehended a level three Law and maybe two or three level two Laws that increase his offense. Yet, as long as he only concentrates on the Fire Laws, he will be stuck at some point.’

’In the next world, the Inferno Immortal must concentrate on different Laws to supplement his Fire Laws. Yet, the pressure I exhibit on him won’t allow him to stay still. If he doesn’t change his way, he will be stuck in the higher world.’

’Yet, Ferris has thousands of years of Law Comprehension experience. He knows all kinds of Laws from different categories, and his foundation is beyond solid. Additionally, Ferris knows how important it is to gain experience with Laws.’

Gravis smiled. ’Ferris is more powerful than the Inferno Immortal.’

"What’s wrong, Gravis?" Ferris asked. "You look troubled."

Gravis shook his head to regain his bearings. "Sorry, I was only in thought."

"Oh yeah, right. You said that once before," Ferris said. "Well, anyway, that was my story. What happened to you?"

Gravis took a deep breath and started to tell Ferris his story.

Chapter 612 - 612 – Simple Wisdom

Gravis told Ferris about what had happened at the Ultimate’s Meet, and Ferris became shocked beyond belief as more time passed. Apparently, he hadn’t known about anything that had been going on. He had seen Meadow’s display, but he didn’t go there because of all the Ultimates.

Ferris had no idea that he had just killed the last Ultimate of the land beasts. He thought that there were still the three other ones, not counting Meadow.

"So, I killed the last land beast Ultimate?" Ferris asked.

Gravis nodded.

"Wow," Ferris said. "That’s awesome! I’m responsible for the world changing. That’s so cool."

Gravis chuckled a bit. "You don’t care about what will happen to the land beasts?"

Ferris looked at Gravis with genuine confusion. "No? Should I? I’m not part of the land beasts anymore."

Gravis chuckled some more. "You’re right. It doesn’t matter."

Then, Gravis remembered something. "By the way, what did you think about the Lightning Ultimate when you saw him?" he asked.

Ferris sneered. "As soon as I saw him, I immediately disliked him. His whole demeanor and being just rubbed me the wrong way. He felt like the sneaky snakey kind. I don’t like the sneaky snakey kind."

Gravis nodded. ’As expected. Ferris has an excellent intuition regarding other beasts.’

Then, Gravis told Ferris about the ruler change in the Icy Pride Empire, and Ferris wasn’t surprised at all about that.

After that, Gravis came to the heavy part. He decided to tell Ferris about his problems and what he was currently thinking about.

After Gravis was done, silence reigned.

"I don’t get it," Ferris said in confusion. "I don’t get the problem."

Gravis sighed when he heard that. "I didn’t expect you to. You know that I’m a human and that I think differently from beasts. I just wanted to share my problems with someone else."

"No, no," Ferris quickly answered. "That’s not what I meant. I can just replace your family with some dear companions, like you, for example. I get what you mean with wanting to stay with your companions, but I don’t get how this decision can be so hard. It seems pretty obvious to me."

Gravis chuckled a bit. "Tell me, Ferris." He didn’t expect much from Ferris’ input, but he was still interested in what Ferris was about to say.

"I mean, who cares about the world? We need to change worlds anyway," Ferris said. "First of all, if you want to stay here, you must stop cultivating and die here. That’s already a big sacrifice."

"Then, I also don’t get your attachment to this world. It’s just a place. Earth, fire, water, air, and stuff is cool and all, but the higher world also has all these things."

"Lastly, I don’t get why you call this world your home. That makes no sense," Ferris said.

Gravis frowned. "What do you mean with it makes no sense? I lived here for 90% of my life. Isn’t a place where you stay for a long time your home?"

Ferris shook his head. "No," he said directly. "My home is where my companions are. If I become too powerful and must leave my companions behind, I just have to search for new ones."

"You said that you came from a different world than this one. So, you should have had no one when you arrived here. But now, you have a lot of companions. You can just do the same thing in the next world."

"Besides," Ferris said carelessly. "Aren’t all of your companions about to ascend soon anyway? When I’m gone, Azure is gone, Styr is gone, your one octopus friend is gone, who will be left? So, your home is not even staying in this world, but moving to another one."

Gravis remained silent as he listened to Ferris.

Inside, Gravis felt shaken. How had he not seen that? How had he not seen something so obvious!?

Yes, leaving his companions and family behind would be horrible, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t leave him behind. Gravis was sure that his companions wouldn’t abort their cultivation just to stay with him. Gravis also didn’t want them to. He wanted them to become powerful.

His children? They would either die or also ascend. They had already shown quite some talent regarding Laws. At some point, they would also learn a level three Law and ascend. Would they stop for him? Of course not! Additionally, Gravis also didn’t want them to give up their dreams because of him.

Gravis looked at the Grand Lake.

’I’m so stupid,’ he thought.

’Yes, my home is currently here with my family and friends, but my home won’t stay here. All of my companions will become more powerful in the future and leave this world. So, even if this is my home, it is only my temporary home.’

Then, Gravis looked at the sky.

’My true home is the highest world because most of the beings I care about will end up there. Even though I don’t care much about my friends from the lower world anymore, we still have a connection. Maybe they have changed beyond recognition, but I still want to see them again.’

’Ferris, Azure, and Styr are seedlings of Heaven. This world specifically exists to create food for the highest world. Their next world probably poses nearly no danger to them since they will be the most powerful beasts in there in regards to Battle-Strength. All three of them will end up in the highest world with a high probability.’

’All my temporary homes will converge in the highest world, which is my permanent home.’

’I’m truly stupid,’ Gravis thought bitterly, but also with relief.

The difficult decision had become easy. Sometimes, the correct answer was the most obvious one. Overcomplicating issues could make them harder than they actually were.

’And I’ve wasted three months on this stupid shit,’ Gravis thought with frustration. ’I shouldn’t stay here and mope around. I should comprehend Laws so that I can achieve my goal and return home. So what if I don’t remember my father or mother’s face and voice? I can just relearn them!’

"Ferris, thank you," Gravis said with a heartfelt voice. "Your advice has saved me from making a wrong decision and wasting unnecessary time."

Now, Ferris became even more confused. "You’re weird. You’re so super smart normally. Shouldn’t you have already realized all that I’ve said? Am I the smart one now?" Ferris asked.

Gravis chuckled a bit. "I’m not smart, and you’re not stupid. We just have different experiences that have taught us different things. Your knowledge about home and companions is simply better than mine. So, yes, in this case, you are the smart one."

"Cool," Ferris said. "No one has ever called me smart. It feels unreal."

"You have become an Ascender while nearly all other beasts can’t accomplish that. This basically makes it impossible for you to be stupid. Even if you sometimes talk like you have no idea about anything, you still have a ton of knowledge hidden away," Gravis said with a chuckle.

"Hey!" Ferris said. "That sounds like an insult! I don’t talk stupid!"

Gravis had to laugh at that.

Gravis and Ferris spent some more days together until Ferris decided that it was time for him to leave this world. Yet, the goodbyes were not painful. They were simply two friends who have met outside their homes but would return home later together.

Ferris ate all the Striders he needed and transformed into a young teenager with curious eyes. The human bodies of beasts were created on how the beast perceived themselves. Apparently, Ferris thought of himself as a curious teenager with a lot of energy.

"See you later!" Ferris said with a wave.

"See you soon, Ferris," Gravis said.

Then, Ferris ascended to the next world.

Yet, Gravis was not distraught. Now, he had realized that this world wasn’t his home and that Ferris won’t be the first being that would leave him behind for now. Azure had said that she would start tempering herself crazily as soon as Gravis went into seclusion. With her knowledge about Laws and Gravis’ influence, she would probably learn a level three Law soon.

Then, Styr and Azure would quickly become level five Emperors and ascend. This would probably happen before Gravis even left his seclusion. At that point, only Orthar and his children would be left.

Gravis could see his home moving, and instead of feeling like he was left behind, he was happy.

He would see all of them or most of them again in the future.

With newfound motivation, Gravis finally started to concentrate on learning Laws.

Chapter 613 - 613 – Complex Elements

Gravis’ first stop was to understand the Soft Complex materials. He needed to get his defense in order and complete the Complex Laws. Right now, he had enough time to entirely focus on them. He had nothing to do but comprehend Laws, and this would be the perfect time to comprehend Laws that required a lot of time.

Since Gravis had already comprehended the water part of the Soft Complex Laws, the next thing he wanted to check would be the liquid metals and fire. Sadly, Gravis couldn’t find the liquid metals very quickly.

So, he decided to mine.

He dug a hole in the ground and used his Composition Law of the Earth to stabilize it as much as possible so that it didn’t simply collapse.

With his power, digging far into the earth was not hard at all. In no time at all, he was already several kilometers underground. As he dug further and further down, he felt the gravity around him increase. It was also getting hotter, but none of the two things were an issue for his power.

After digging for 1,000 kilometers, Gravis could really feel the effects of gravity and heat. At this depth, even a Lord would have problems surviving. Yet, he continued digging.

At 5,000 kilometers, even some Kings would have issues surviving.

At 10,000 kilometers, Gravis felt like he was close to his breaking point. The heat warped the surroundings as he was surrounded by a ton of magma. Gravis didn’t really care about the hole and let the magma just flow out in a volcanic explosion. Hundreds of kilometers of the area around the hole were destroyed, but that didn’t matter.

As he reached this depth, he looked around for interesting materials. The magma itself was already an interesting material since it was very different from normal fire or earth. It was like a combination of fire and earth, which interested him quite a bit.

For the next 20 years, Gravis checked out all the interesting materials in the ground. He also found his liquid metal, but it was hard to discern which of the metals was actual liquid metal and which material was simply so hot that it melted.

Yet, in these 20 years, Gravis made quite some headway. In actuality...

BOOOOM!

’Interesting,’ Gravis thought with a smirk. ’So, even magma has a kind of Composition Law. This is interesting indeed. Magma does not count towards any of the Material Composition Laws. Additionally, it also doesn’t count towards any single element.’

’This material does not conform to any category of Law I know. I wonder how that works?’ Gravis thought as he looked around.

’Well, if it doesn’t fit into any category, it’s probably a new category that I don’t know yet. I think it’s some kind of elemental fusion Law, maybe? Though, since I can’t control earth nor fire, it’s hard to find out.’

Gravis scratched his chin but suddenly stopped. ’Wait. There was something before that fit that category.’

Gravis’ eyes shone. ’Steam! Steam is also a fusion between water and fire and doesn’t conform to anything. That one Lord with water affinity managed to comprehend it back then and control it. Ferris also managed to comprehend it.’

’Does that mean that one only needs to have one affinity of a material that has two or more to control it? If a water affinity beast and Ferris can control steam, a fire affinity or earth affinity beast should be able to control magma. Of course, only if they know the applicable Law.’

Gravis looked at the magma and tried to manipulate it. He couldn’t transform or control it, but he could destroy it with his Composition Law.

Suddenly, Gravis’ eyes widened. He had expected the magma to turn into dust or Energy, but it actually turned into something else.

In front of Gravis, for just a split second, he had seen a solitary fire and a rock. Yet, as soon as they came into contact with the surrounding magma, they turned back into magma.

Whoop!

Gravis grabbed a chunk of magma and returned to the surface. When he arrived at the surface, he summoned the chunk of magma.

BRRRR!

The surroundings blurred as the hardened magma on the surface turned liquid again. This chunk of magma was so incredibly hot that it burned things even kilometers away.

Then, Gravis turned the chunk of magma back into fire and earth.

Now, since there was no magma around, the split parts of the magma stayed.

Gravis could see a violently burning fire to his right and a robust rock to his left. After he saw this, he scratched his chin in thought.

’Hmm,’ he thought. ’I wonder...’

SSSHHH!

Gravis used his Composition Law of Earth and Fire to turn the two components into Energy.

’Sure enough, turning the components back to their base turned them into Energy. So, fire and earth are made out of Energy. Magma is made out of fire and earth. This is insane!’ Gravis thought.

Gravis had thought that magma was simply molten stone. After all, if something was heated enough, it would turn into a liquid or gas either way. Magma hadn’t seemed remarkable in any way since it was just another state of stone.

Yet, Gravis had been mistaken. Apparently, there was more to the materials than he had thought.

Gravis thought about what he had learned for a while and then thought about the uses that controlling such a Law would bring.

’That’s actually insanely useful for a fire or earth Cultivator,’ Gravis thought. ’Magma isn’t as powerful offensively as fire, and it also isn’t as powerful defensively as earth. Yet, controlling it allows the Cultivator or beast to rectify their weaknesses.’

’Fire has nearly no defensive capabilities. The best it can do is evade or destroy an attack with an attack of its own. Controlling magma would allow the fire Cultivator or beast to create a barrier of magma around them. It would be similar to the earth shield that the Inquisitor has used against me, just not as powerful.’

’Earth, on the other hand, nearly has no offense. The only offensive method that earth has are spires and stones, but that’s about it. An attack with a spire or stone would count as a physical attack, similar to punching or biting someone. Yet, if the spires or stones were replaced with magma, an elemental attacking component would be added to the attack, making it harder to defend against it.’

’So, we already have two mixed elements that exist. This probably means that there are way more,’ Gravis thought.

Then, Gravis looked at the world again as he tried to imagine how a combination of different elements would look like. ’Water and earth make mud. Wind and water probably make some kind of storm. Lightning and water? I actually don’t know. Water and metal? Not sure, but it could be liquid metal, I think.’

’Fire and lightning? Could be maybe some kind of hot lightning or something, not sure. Lightning and earth? I think it has something to do with charges and unloading, maybe some kind of loaded earth. Wind and lightning could just be a faster version of lightning but with a weaker offense. Metal and lightning could have something to do with electricity. Fire and wind could be heat.’

’Metal and fire make just a heated version of metal. I make that stuff all the time to forge my equipment. This probably means that metal and fire just create something that is part of the Hard Complex Law. Earth and Metal also sound like they would produce something that is part of the Hard Complex Law.’

’What about wood? Wood is a connection between souls. Normally, I wouldn’t have any idea what would happen, but, luckily, I have precedence case.’

’Ferris. Ferris has learned something about the soul. The wood element is also intrinsically connected to the soul. Maybe, with understanding the Composition of the Wood Element, I can gain insights into the soul and then combine the soul with different elements.’

Gravis continued scratching his chin. ’Speaking of, could it be that the wood element is a base form of the soul or something? The wood element is very connected to the Life Laws. Maybe, the wood element is the gateway to learning about complex life, not just simple biological life and Life Energy.’

Gravis frowned. ’I don’t think that the wood element can be fused with other elements just like that. I probably need to upgrade it to soul first. What about light and darkness? Realistically, I couldn’t imagine anything that could fuse with these two elements. Yet, there may be some very advanced forces and materials that contain the forces of light and darkness.’

’Yet, I’m pretty sure that these forces are beyond my current scope of understanding. They are probably for the future.’

Gravis recounted his thoughts. ’That leaves me with eleven level one Laws of potential elemental fusions. These are obviously part of the Composition Law category. I just hadn’t been able to see it before.’

’They probably require an understanding of the different elements to truly understand and use them. In the past, I have already theorized that eight of the nine elements would fuse into two level two Laws, which would be the Force Elemental Law and Matter Elemental Law.’

’Back then, I also theorized that these two level two Laws would make the level three Law of the Elements. Yet, it also seems rather barren. I only need to know two level two Laws to understand a level three Law?’

Gravis’ eyes shone. ’I probably also need the Complex Elemental Laws. These fusions are all level one Laws, and with eleven of them at once, I could probably create another two level two Laws. Then, these two fuse with the level two Pure Elemental Laws to create the level three Law of the Elements.’

Gravis looked at the ground with fiery eyes. ’Let’s get right to it!’

Chapter 614 - 614 – The Delicate TouChapter Of Humanity

Gravis changed his goal from the Soft Complex Law to the Mixed Elemental Laws. The Soft Complex Law took parts of different elements and was a level two Law. If he managed to understand the Mixed Elemental Laws, understanding the Soft Complex Law would surely become even easier.

’Understanding level one Laws is far easier than a level two Law. So, let’s check them out,’ Gravis thought as he thought about how to procure different elements to experiment with. ’I have enough metal. I have enough earth. I also have enough lightning. That already covers three of the six elements I need.’

’Air and wind shouldn’t be a problem. I also have a ton of water in the Grand Lake. As for fire, I just need to split up the magma to create a powerful fire. Let’s check out steam first since it seems to be the easiest one to create.’

Thus, Gravis returned underground and retrieved a ton of magma into his Spirit Space. Inside his Spirit Space, he split the magma apart into fire and stone. Gravis had complete control over his Spirit Space, which allowed him to preserve the materials as they were.

Then, Gravis summoned some fire and threw it into the Grand Lake.

SSSSSSSS!

Immediately, an explosion of steam appeared, and Gravis looked intently at the process.

He spent the next year like this.

’This is truly fascinating!’ Gravis thought. ’I’ve always thought that the heat of the fire would simply transform water into steam, but the fire actually fuses with the water to become steam. This goes completely against common sense!’

Gravis spent another four years trying to understand steam until...

BOOOOM!

’Got it!’ Gravis thought with excitement. ’Sure enough, understanding a level one Law is far easier than understanding a level two Law. If I wouldn’t have such a crazy amount of experience with different kinds of Laws, understanding this Law would have taken me many decades, maybe even a full century. After all, it has absolutely no affinity with me.’

Gravis was happy that he managed to take another step into the Mixed Elemental Laws.

Yet, what he didn’t know was that his constant experimentation with steam created powerful rainstorms around the world since he had created an unreal amount of steam. Lots of mortal plants and animals drowned in these storms.

But even if Gravis knew that he was responsible for it, he wouldn’t stop. He had accepted that his efforts in trying to understand more Laws would have tremendous effects on the weaker beings. There was no way around it, and he prioritized his own power over the wellbeing of mortal beings.

By now, the Grand Lake was constantly raining. It hadn’t stopped raining for the entire five years Gravis had been here.

When he had been in the lower world, Gravis could have never imagined that he would grow so apathetic towards life. Yet, as one grew older and became more powerful, one also got used to these kinds of things.

’Next Law, mud!’ Gravis thought.

Gravis grabbed a ton of dry earth and threw it into the Grand Lake. Luckily, since the Grand Lake was full of sea beasts, no mortal fish were there.

The waters in front of Gravis turned muddy as he retrieved several tons of mud to look at them.

Another five years passed. Gravis had been in seclusion for 30 years in total.

BOOOOM!

’Got it!’ he thought with a smirk, the water in front of him being beyond muddy. Of course, Gravis was smart enough to clean the water of the earth periodically. He still remembered that the Striders were not big fans of their water being stolen. Gravis was not powerful enough to contest with a Strider yet.

Gravis split the mud apart, threw the water back into the Grand Lake, and created a mountain of dirt beside him. The terrain around him had been altered significantly.

Without knowing it, Gravis was exhibiting a very human trait. Nearly all beasts didn’t change their environment when they comprehended Laws. They simply looked at something and tried to understand it without changing its Composition or actual position in the world.

Ores would remain where they were. Fire would only be created very localized. If beasts wanted to comprehend water, they would simply go to a lake or the ocean instead of creating it.

Gravis was a human, and he wanted to see how things worked and interacted. Instead of simply looking at things, he destroyed them, fused them, and split them apart. This violently affected the terrain around him.

Yet, this destructive behavior towards the environment also was a much more effective way to comprehend Laws. This aspect was one of the reasons why humans were better at understanding Laws than beasts or plants.

’Next Law, water and metal!’ Gravis thought as he summoned some metal.

Yet, as he looked at the metal and the water, he grew uncertain. ’How am I supposed to fuse these two things?’ he thought in confusion.

’I have neither control over metal nor over water. I’m also unsure what would come out of this,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. ’Fuck it! I’ll just use force!’

Then, Gravis used his Spirit and pressed the metal and water together as hard as he could. Gravis had to use an insane amount of concentration and Spirit, but after a while, he was able to see a very subtle change.

’I can’t see it with my eyes, but I can feel the changes of the water and the metal thanks to my relevant Composition Laws. The water and the metal are becoming lighter. It’s like parts of them are vanishing.’

After around an hour, Gravis managed to see the change with his eyes, and he became shocked and frustrated.

’Am I stupid? How have I not seen this coming!?’ Gravis thought in frustration.

Using brute force had worked, and Gravis successfully created the element that came out of a fusion between water and metal.

It was liquid metal.

’The thing I have been searching for was just something that I could have created myself,’ Gravis thought with a bitter chuckle.

’Anyway, let’s get to it, but this Law will probably take longer than the others since it takes quite some force to create this material.’

And with this, Gravis spent a long time on this Law.

In fact, he spent a total of 30 years on it. By now, he had been in seclusion for 60 years.

BOOOOM!

But, he managed to comprehend the Law.

’Finally!’ Gravis thought as he slapped his thigh in excitement. ’That took forever!’

BOOOOM!

Gravis’ eyes widened as he comprehended something else.

’Well, that came out of nowhere,’ he thought.

’I’ve just comprehended the Soft Complex Material Law. Huh, I thought I would need to dedicate some time specifically for that. Yet, it also makes sense that I understand it now.’

’I know the water component. I know the air component. I know the liquid metal component, and, surprisingly, even steam is part of the Soft Complex Law.’

Gravis scratched his chin. ’Wow, it took me forever to get to the level two Laws, but now, I already know six of them.’

’Wait, I now know the Hard Complex and Soft Complex Material Laws. Additionally, I know about mud and magma now. The Pure Elemental Composition Laws are also all there. On top of that, I also know the Composition Law of Bark. Scales and skin are part of the Body Composition Law. Shouldn’t that cover all of the...’

BOOOOM!

Gravis smirked.

’Medium Complex Law done. Now, I know seven level two Laws. Additionally, my defense should be taken care of now. That only leaves speed.’

Gravis looked at his surroundings and his smirk intensified. ’But fuck that. I already committed to spending a lot of time here, and I will use all of it. First, I’ll finish the Mixed Elemental Laws. After that, I’ll try my hands on the level two Laws of the Pure Elemental and Mixed Elemental Laws.’

’I’m not even halfway done, but that’s good. The harder it is to understand these Laws, the less other beings know them. Right now, all these Mixed Elemental Laws seem useless, but if I can fuse them together with the other Composition Laws in the future, I can make a level four Law!’

Gravis chuckled a bit. ’You all only want to comprehend a level three Law. Yet, I have my eyes on a level four Law.’

’Let’s get right on it!’

Chapter 615 - 615 – Perfectly Suited Mindset

Gravis now knew seven level two Laws, an insane number for anyone in this world to comprehend. Meadow had only comprehended a two-digit number of level two Laws while Sary only had known about nine, as far as Gravis knew.

Right now, in this world, Gravis was probably the person or beast with the highest number of comprehended level two Laws except for Meadow. Even if he decided to ascend right now, his knowledge about Laws was still far greater than nearly any Ascendent.

Yet, did that mean that Gravis should stop comprehending Laws?

Obviously not.

Now, he had the opportunity and time to comprehend Laws. Maybe, if he went to the next world, he wouldn’t have the luxury of time anymore. Maybe there would be Immortal Kings or Immortal Emperors that would keep all the good Law Comprehension Areas under control. Maybe these same people would force Gravis into work so that he would have to earn his comprehension time.

Gravis realized that this opportunity to comprehend as many Laws as he wanted without having to fear any enemy was rare. Because of these reasons, he decided to make the best of it.

’Next on the list are the remaining Mixed Elemental Laws. Let’s start with wind plus water, which should create rain or some kind of powerful storm.’

Gravis immediately grabbed a ridiculous amount of water and flew with it into the sky. He was not interested in creating normal rain but in creating a powerful and violent storm. He didn’t want to mix air and water. He wanted to mix wind and water, which was a difference.

SSSSHHHH!

Gravis violently split the water apart and made it move through the air in a circular motion. Over the following minutes, nearly all the water seemingly vanished as it turned into steam. Yet, Gravis didn’t stop. He just continued whirling everything violently to create as much wind as possible.

Gravis had no control over wind, which was why he needed to physically shove it around with his Spirit. The end result was the same as when a beast with a wind affinity created wind, but the process was different.

One could liken the creation of wind to trying to make a massive beast move. Someone with the wind affinity would be able to talk to the beast and convince it to move by itself without having to put much force into it.

Meanwhile, Gravis was basically shoving the beast violently. Both scenarios ended up with the beast moving, but one of them cost far more Energy than the other. Additionally, if Gravis hadn’t been powerful enough, he wouldn’t even be able to create wind powerful enough that it would fuse with the water.

After some minutes, Gravis had created a mighty, many kilometers wide whirlwind that started traveling away from this region. Gravis looked at the whirlwind with fascination as he noticed some peculiar things. Sadly, he still needed more tries to confirm his thoughts.

Five days later.

’Sure enough, just like with the combination of metal and water, there is something else going on. Initially, I had believed that the water would simply break down into the steam and be carried by the wind, but that’s not the case.’

’Surprisingly, the wind doesn’t carry the water but gets absorbed by it. The water is absorbing the wind, which creates an interesting fusion. The water seemingly becomes lighter, which makes it move faster with the same amount of force. Yet, the water also gets part of the offensive capabilities of wind.’

Gravis tore off a branch from one of the few remaining trees in his surroundings and threw it into the whirlwind he had just created.

CRRRRRRR!

In no time at all, the branch was torn apart and turned into dust. ’Usually, if we only had violently moving water, this branch would have first been torn into pieces and then would have slowly been ground into small splinters. Yet, this is not what’s happening here.’

’The branch is actually not really being torn apart. The water and wind are not tearing at it but cutting it. The round droplets of water seem to have some cutting capabilities. Their form does not show these cutting capabilities since they are still in the form of droplets, but it’s still there.’

Gravis scratched his chin. ’The water has absorbed the cutting capabilities of the wind element. Yet, with its round form, it logically shouldn’t be able to cut. Does that mean that the offensive component of wind is not based on the concentrated wind blade’s shape but on the inherent wind Energy? This needs more testing.’

Over the next five years, Gravis created a terrifying amount of whirlwinds that tore through the land. Of course, the Grand Lake was safe from the whirlwinds’ power.

Any one of these storms that went towards the Grand Lake would just hit one of the legs of a Strider and be turned to nothing. The Striders were simply too massive. Luckily, this "attack" was not powerful enough to even be considered as an attack by the Striders, which was why they didn’t react at all. It was just some weather to them.

Gravis had been in seclusion for 65 years now, and his surroundings had been changed tremendously. The surrounding 500 kilometers had no more life living in them. One could only see a terrifying amount of crevices that had been carved by the whirlwinds.

The idyllic forest and shore had transformed into a wasteland.

Yet, Gravis didn’t care. Right now, he was like an innocent kid that was simply experiencing the world. All these new concepts intrigued him, and he wanted to understand them no matter what.

This continuous understanding of new Laws didn’t feel like work to Gravis. It was more like playing. Back when he had become a Unity Realm Cultivator for the first time, he had already been surprised and intrigued by the world. Back then, he had just looked at the surroundings, even though his fight against Heaven had been at the door.

As soon as someone reached the Unity Realm, they came into contact with the Laws. Their mind would expand alongside the breakthrough and would finally be powerful enough to understand the incredibly complex Laws. Gravis’ first look at his surroundings back then was the first time he had been able to feel the workings behind the world.

Now, Gravis had enough experience to categorize the different workings of the world, which allowed him to quickly discern complex associations. All the concepts were related. The only difference was how related they were to each other.

Initially, light and darkness seemed to be polar opposites, just like fire and water. Yet, with enough knowledge, one could see that even opposing Laws could be combined and work together.

Right now, Gravis was in the energetic prime of comprehending Laws. Even though he had already spent over 200 years in total understanding Laws, this was just the beginning. He was still new to the whole Law concept but already knew enough to effectively and efficiently discern the rules and play the game.

He was like a person that was hooked on a new, complex game they finally managed to learn and comprehend.

Of course, this was not something that everyone had.

A lot of people didn’t enjoy the process of understanding Laws. It felt like they had to study something. Additionally, a prolonged period of concentration would exhaust people.

One could liken this mindset to physical training. Some people didn’t enjoy doing sports or training but did it anyway because of the benefits it brought. Yet, the process of training itself felt like a chore to them.

Meanwhile, there were those people that loved the feeling of using their entire power to achieve feats of strength they had never been able to achieve before. The training itself was fun for them.

Gravis was part of the second category of people. He not only profited from the results he managed to achieve by comprehending so many Laws but also enjoyed the process. Even if he didn’t gain anything out of comprehending Laws, he might still do it regardless since it was so much fun for him to find out solutions and concepts that he hadn’t been able to see before.

This mindset and personality were among the most important things that one needed to have to become powerful in their cultivation. Comprehending Laws didn’t exhaust these people, so they could do it endlessly without a break while always remaining in their peak mental condition.

BOOOOM!

’And I got the Composition Law of the Storm,’ Gravis thought with a smirk.

Yet, without even considering taking a pause, Gravis immediately looked at the hole he had dug back then with fiery eyes.

’Next thing, wind and fire!’

Chapter 616 - 616 – Evolving Battle Styles

Gravis surprisingly spent 15 years trying to understand the combination of wind and fire without any success. This shocked him quite a bit since he believed that he already had a lot of knowledge in regards to Mixed Elemental Laws.

Gravis could infer a lot of things from the fusion, but it just didn’t end. By now, he had learned more about this combination than two other, similar Laws would have combined. It was like this Law was far more complex than the other ones.

’This can only mean that this Law is a level two Law. That’s quite surprising, actually. I thought that all Mixed Elemental Laws would be level one Laws. Apparently not,’ Gravis thought.

Then, Gravis thought about the other Mixed Elemental Laws and found something that was actually quite similar to the Law he was trying to comprehend right now.

’I think I get it,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. ’This is not a Mixed Elemental Law. Apparently, not all of the elements can be mixed to create a Mixed Elemental Law. Instead, some of them go into completely different directions.’

’The fusion of metal and fire is a good example. The fusion of metal and fire, as well as the fusion of metal and earth, create Hard Complex Materials. Therefore, by understanding these two fusions, I gained insights into the Hard Complex Law. I just haven’t looked at it from this angle but from a different one.’

The question during all of this was, what did the fusion of wind and fire create?

Surprisingly, it was just very hot wind.

At first glance, this seemed like it couldn’t be any more straightforward, but that was not true at all. In actuality, what the fusion created was something not more complex but more basic than the Laws of Wind or Fire.

’It’s just heat,’ Gravis thought. ’Whenever I combine other elements, I see them fuse together and become more complex with attributes from both elements. Yet, heat does the opposite. The burning aspect of fire is gone, as well as the cutting and moving aspect from wind. It is simply a hot space, which only exhibits one aspect of the Fire Laws.’

Gravis scratched his chin as he made some connections. ’I have seen that the elements change the more powerful a beast becomes. The light element of the Light Ultimate or Light Immortal has transformed from a very defensive one into a very aggressive one.’

’This probably means that other elements could also change their properties as they become more powerful. It could very well be that the Laws of Heat would become the next stop for beasts with the fire affinity. This would transform their concentrated, explosive attacks into a domain. Instead of dealing a devastating strike immediately, they slowly melt the opponent over a long period of time.’

’Of course, I know that there are also stronger versions of fire. The Inferno Immortal, as his name suggests, knows about the level three Inferno Law, which is the equivalent to my Punishment Lightning. He still fights in a very explosive manner.’

’Does that mean that one can choose their future development?’ Gravis thought as he looked at the sky. ’The Light Immortal didn’t need to go on an offensive route. There surely is a better version of the light element as well, which would probably concentrate even more on defense and healing.’

Gravis thought about this for a while and came to an interesting hypothesis.

’I think there are, at least, two paths one can take: One of complexity and one of simplicity. The Pure Elemental Laws can probably become so powerful that they are even a force in the highest world. This means that everyone can still follow their pure elements without having to fear for their future.’

’Yet, there are also ways to gain more and more general powers. The Water Immortal has comprehended the Law of Supreme Cold, which is obviously not the level three equivalent of Punishment Lightning. After all, cold is only one aspect that is related to the Water Laws.’

Gravis ruffled his head in frustration. ’This makes it so much more confusing. Which one is the complex, and which one is the pure path? The complex path takes more general approaches to the workings of the world, while the pure path takes all attributes of a single element.’

’So, doesn’t the pure path seem more complex actually, since it has more attributes? Yet, straying away from one’s element seems to incorporate more concepts not related to the element, which would also make it more complex? Fuck, this is confusing.’

’Maybe I shouldn’t call it pure and complex, but something else. I think calling them a generalized path and specialized path seems more fitting. The comprehension of more general kinds of concepts, like heat and cold, for example, has a prevalence in more parts of the world than the specialized path, which only comprises of a single element.’

’Let’s see, the effects of a more generalized path would also equalize the three battle aspects of offense, defense, and speed. A fire Cultivator or beast normally has a powerful offense, weak defense, and average speed. Yet, if they switch over to heat, they would have an average offense, average defense, and average speed. It basically goes from 3-1-2 to 2-2-2.’

’At least, that’s how it is for fire and heat. If I take water and cold as an example, it would start with 1-3-2 and become a 3-1-2. Right now, the Water Immortal’s comprehension is still weak enough that the defensive aspect of her water is powerful enough to make her defense average. Still, the stronger she gets, the weaker it will become.’

’At some point, if she doesn’t manage to understand the level three equivalent of water to my Punishment Lightning, her defense will drop immensely. At that point, since she is focused on the Cold Laws, she would have a similar battle strategy to a current fire user, which would be a powerful offense but weak defense.’

’Huh, that’s actually quite interesting. It’s surprising how one can start with one aspect and then completely shift into another.’

Gravis scratched the back of his neck. ’Though, all of this will only work if one doesn’t have enough time to comprehend Laws. If the Water Immortal takes her time to comprehend the level three Law of Water, she can use the defense of that Law and the offense of her Law of Supreme Cold.’

’Yet, understanding that Law takes time. If she is in a very competitive environment, she would need to concentrate on enhancing her main Law to survive, which is the Law of Supreme Cold. Then, a couple of hundreds or thousands of years later, she might have progressed so far along the path to power that understanding the level three Law of Water wouldn’t even help her a little bit.’

Gravis scratched his chin as he smirked. ’I think I found out another aspect that makes for a solid foundation. Right now, my own battle style is an absolutely overwhelming offense, overwhelming defense, and high speed, which would be 4-4-3. Yet, if I were to immediately become an Immortal right now, it would be 3-2-2 since my Law of Punishment Lightning helps me more in my offense than my Material Laws help in my defense.’

’So, by understanding the fusion of fire and wind, I can gain insights into the concepts of heat, which may be useful for my Battle-Strength. The concept of heat does not need a specific Element to interact with it, making it a more general kind of Law.’

’Wait a second,’ Gravis thought as he narrowed his eyes. ’If I had no other useful Laws, but would be able to comprehend the Laws of Heat, wouldn’t then my Battle Style be identical to the Battle Style of a fire Cultivator that also took this path?’

’Additionally, water cultivators, and actually any other elemental cultivator, could also use the Laws of Heat. So, the Laws of Heat and Cold actually don’t need a corresponding fitting element to be used, which means that everyone can use them. The ones with the fitting element just have it easier to understand these Laws, which makes them more likely to use them.’

’So, in the end, I’m reaching a crossroads where the Battle Styles of different elements can converge.’

Gravis furrowed his brows. ’Does that mean that the Battle Styles of different beings are no longer defined by their element but by their chosen Battle Style and specialization in the future? Maybe, in the highest world, different elements are no longer differentiated between each other since there are so many generalized sets of Laws that can be used as the main focus of a Battle Style.’

’This means that every cultivator, no matter which element they follow or if they follow no element at all, can basically choose nearly every available path the Laws can take. Well, except for the element-specific ones.’

Gravis scratched his chin as he looked into the sky. ’Does that mean that, for a lot of people, the elements are only a base to establish a path of understanding? After they made quite some headway on this path, they can choose something fitting to their personality and Battle-Style and concentrate on that.’

’Huh, the very thing that has defined how my enemy acts and how effective I am against them seems to be changing. There’s a high possibility that I will have absolutely no idea about the Battle Style of my opponent if I only look at their associated element.’

’That’s rather wild,’ Gravis thought.

Chapter 617 - 617 – Visitors

After thinking about the future Battle Styles Gravis would encounter for a while longer, he decided to get back to understanding more about the Law. He had found the Law of Heat, and he wanted to comprehend it now. The fact that it was a level two Law only meant that it would take more time to learn, and, right now, Gravis had nothing but time.

15 more years passed. By now, a total of 95 years had passed since Gravis had entered seclusion.

Gravis had spent a total of 30 years on the level two Law of Heat but still didn’t manage to comprehend it. The Law of Heat didn’t have any level one Laws as prerequisites to understand it, making it much harder to learn. After all, he had to understand everything at once without any kind of checkpoints along the way.

Yet, on this day, something happened.

No, Gravis didn’t manage to comprehend the Laws, but someone came to visit him.

Gravis was taken out of his experiments as he felt two beasts nearing him. Both of these beasts, surprisingly, were level five Emperors. On top of that, the two of them were not sea beasts but land beasts.

"Styr, Azure," Gravis transmitted to them as he saw them getting closer.

Styr and Azure quickly arrived in front of Gravis as they looked at him. Gravis seemingly had not changed a single bit. However, his Battle-Strength seemed to have elevated a little bit. It wasn’t much, but there was a difference that they could feel.

Yet, just this small bit of Battle-Strength increase already surprised them. Gravis already had the most powerful Battle-Strength the two of them had ever seen, but he still managed to push himself even further.

Increasing such a ridiculously high Battle-Strength even more was beyond difficult. Gravis had already known several level two Laws and one level three Law. Any level one Law wouldn’t be able to increase his Battle-Strength at all. After all, when one understood so many level two and three Laws, a level one Law wouldn’t really be a help.

Yet, Gravis’ Battle-Strength had increased even in this circumstance. This meant that he probably learned, at least, one more level two Law, which was crazy. Gravis was only around 300 years old by now. Even understanding a single level two Law in 300 years was absolutely crazy.

"Sure enough, you didn’t disappoint," Azure said neutrally.

Gravis knew that they could feel his Battle-Strength. "I should be the one that said that," Gravis said with a smile. "You already managed to comprehend a level three Law?" he asked.

The fact that both of them were level five Emperors meant that they were ready to ascend. This could only mean that Azure also managed to learn a level three Law.

Azure nodded. "I managed to upgrade my level two Law of Pride to the level three Law of Higher Pride," Azure said.

Gravis was a bit taken aback. "That’s possible?" he asked.

"Of course it is," Azure answered like it was apparent.

"You also didn’t know," Styr commented from the side with a smirk, making Azure furrow her brows. Additionally, Styr winked at Gravis.

Gravis had to chuckle a bit but immediately went back to the topic. "So, it’s possible to upgrade some Laws without having to understand new Laws?" Gravis asked.

"Not all of them, but there are some," Azure answered like she hadn’t just been found out. "I’ve thought that my Law of Pride already encompassed all facets of Pride, but that was not the case. There are more facets to the Law of Pride, which I hadn’t been able to see until I felt my Pride being shattered."

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

Azure was a bit confused by Gravis’ reaction. "Nothing really."

Now, it was Gravis’ time to be confused. "But you just said that your Pride has been shattered. So, how did that happen?" he asked.

Surprisingly, Azure got a bit angry when Gravis asked that. "Isn’t it obvious?" she asked with a cold voice, not wanting to say the reason.

"No," Gravis said. "It’s not."

Azure furrowed her brows, but Styr only chuckled a bit. Apparently, since he no longer had to play the role of the Grand Elder or the Emperor of the Icy Pride Empire, he seemed much more relaxed and open.

"She means you, Gravis," Styr said.

Gravis blinked a bit in confusion. "What? Why?" he asked.

Azure only looked to the side with a pout.

Seeing that she didn’t answer, Styr took it upon himself to answer Gravis’ question. "Your arrival has changed the world, and your influence has made Emperors rise to become Ascenders. Ferris, someone much older than both Azure and I, managed to become an Ascender."

"Normally, that wouldn’t be a huge shock, but he managed to comprehend a level three Law after only having been with you for five years. Do you still remember the time you came back for the first time after starting your Realm-Stop? Ferris had left as a normal Elder and returned as an Ascender after only being in contact with you for around five years or so."

Gravis scratched the back of his neck in confusion. "Yeah, sure, but Ferris already had a terrifying amount of comprehension hidden inside of him."

Instead of reacting to Gravis’ comment, Styr continued talking. "Then came the Inferno Emperor, someone who had only spent five years with you. He is younger than both Azure and I, yet managed to rapidly overtake us."

"Then, came your one octopus friend," Styr said with a smirk.

"Orthar?" Gravis asked in shock. "How do you know about him?"

"We did our research of your past, but we didn’t know that this incredible leader of the sea beasts was your friend until you returned him to the sea Ultimates after the Ultimate’s Meet. Yet, as soon as we knew that he was your friend, we realized how incredible his accomplishments were," Styr explained.

"You should know that the mates to the Empress back then were not chosen lightly. We also needed to check if you were a spy or not, which was why it was required of the King that brought the mate to tell us everything they know about the potential mate. So, in short, the Inferno Emperor gave us all the information of your River Tribe."

"Back to the original topic," Styr said. "Your friend has become the leader of the sea beasts in just a hundred years or so, which was even more incredible than the earlier two examples. Yet, how much time has he spent with you? Maybe a few years?"

Gravis thought back. "It might not even have been a single year. Honestly, I’m not so sure."

Styr nodded. "Then came the Life Ultimate, which had managed to comprehend a level three Law after only having talked for you for a bit."

"Okay, the first examples, I get, but Sary has nothing to do with me," Gravis said with a frown. "Also, I still don’t get your point. What do you want to say?"

Styr chuckled a bit. "What I’m trying to say is that you should look at this from Azure’s point of view. Additionally, I’m also a good example."

Gravis frowned a bit more. However, slowly, he realized what Styr was referring to.

Who was the beast that Gravis had talked to the most over the years? Honestly, it was probably Azure. Ever since Gravis was a level three Lord, he had gone and talked to Azure time and time again. He often came to visit her and shared all his experiences.

Sure, one could say that Gravis had spent more time with Ferris, but most of the time, Gravis had only been silently comprehending Laws alongside Ferris. He didn’t nearly talk as much with Ferris as with Azure.

So, from Azure’s point of view, every surrounding beast that came into contact with Gravis overtook her in power, while she, the one that spent the most time with him, didn’t manage to learn a level three Law. It was understandable how one could doubt themselves in such a situation.

"I mean, I get your position, but you have this whole thing backward," Gravis said. "It’s not me that’s making all these beasts learn about Laws and become powerful. It’s mostly my mindset that influences their mindsets, resulting in them getting more powerful by themselves. You are giving me far too much credit."

Instead of looking at Styr, Gravis looked at Azure.

Azure didn’t look back.

"I know that now..." she said quietly like she didn’t want to say that.

Gravis massages the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Really?" he asked without amusement. "You’ve attributed the success of my friends solely to me and simply waited for my influence to infect you without you having to do anything?"

Suddenly, the air turned cold. "Be careful how you speak to me, King," Azure said with quite some amount of pride.

Gravis sneered. "Oh fuck off. That doesn’t work on me," he said.

Azure glared at Gravis for some more seconds, but when she saw that Gravis didn’t falter, she pouted again and looked to the side, the air returning to normal.

Such a display would have never happened when Azure had still been the Empress. She was really a different beast, now that she no longer had to act like a ruler. Gravis still remembered how she had tortured him with all her complaining back then.

Most of the time, Azure seemed to remain taciturn, but when she felt like it, she could also act like a seemingly normal beast without all this pride nonsense.

Silence reigned for some seconds.

"How are my children?" Gravis suddenly asked.

Of course that question had to come.

Chapter 618 - 618 – Transforming World

Azure groaned when she heard that question. Gravis always asked about his children whenever they met, which started to become annoying.

"They are still alive, but the world is chaotic, so I have no idea how long that will keep going," Azure said.

Gravis felt neutral about Azure’s word. On one hand, she said they were still alive, but on the other hand, she said that they could very well die soon.

"How is the world?" Gravis asked.

"Chaotic," Azure said. "The sea beasts are gaining more and more ground as the years pass. Their total territory has increased by 50%. Right now, the sea is covering a third of the continent."

Yet, suddenly, Azure smirked. "But they won’t increase their territory anymore now."

Gravis knew what Azure was referring to. "You mean because of you two?" he asked.

Azure nodded. "We ate quite a lot of their powerful Emperors. The number of their level four Emperors is far lower than the number of our level four Emperors. Just keeping their territories stable is requiring them to use all their power."

Yet, Gravis didn’t share Azure’s opinion. She clearly didn’t know Orthar and his talent for strategy. As long as the land beasts didn’t attack the sea beasts with a full-on assault, the war would continue. Even if Orthar only had a third of the enemy’s forces, he would still be able to order them to such a degree that they would still emerge victoriously.

But Gravis didn’t want to tell Azure and Styr that. After all, if they realized that they underestimated Orthar, they might feel bad for the land beast camp. Killing Orthar would be impossible for them since they were level five Emperors now, and Meadow said that level five Emperors were not to involve themselves in the war.

Azure and Styr didn’t know of Gravis’ thoughts, so Azure continued telling Gravis about the state of the world. "The western territories have already become involved in the war, but just as expected, they didn’t make much of a difference."

"Because of their relatively peaceful lifestyle?" Gravis asked with a raised brow. Of course, in comparison to human standards, the western territory would count as a war-torn land, but for beast standards, it was basically a paradise. The western territory only fought itself when one Emperor wanted more territory. Yet, there was a big difference to such a gigantic, long-fought war.

Azure nodded. "Most of them only become fodder to the sea beasts, making them even powerful. Including them in the war has not only not helped us but made it even harder. Because of that, only level three and four Emperors are allowed to help us. Additionally, they are under severe restrictions and can only fight when the council allows them to."

"The council?" Gravis asked with a raised brow.

"The leadership of the land beast camp," Styr commented from the side. "Now that the Ultimates are no longer allowed to interfere in the war, the level four Emperors created a council that decides the war strategies."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "What Ultimates?" he asked.

Now, it was Styr’s time to furrow his brows. "The Lightning Ultimate," he said.

"The Lightning Ultimate is dead," Gravis said, shocking both Azure and Styr.

When Gravis saw their reaction, he knew that the news of the Lightning Ultimate’s demise had not reached the outside world yet, even after 95 years. That was quite surprising to him. "You didn’t know?" he asked.

Styr looked at Azure as she looked back. Then, Styr turned to Gravis. "Did you kill him?" he asked.

Gravis shook his head. "No, it was Ferris."

Styr, and surprisingly even Azure, sighed in relief. "That’s good," Styr said.

"What’s with that reaction?" Gravis asked.

"The Lightning Ultimate has a lot of followers," Azure answered. "If you were the one that killed him, some level four Emperors might decide to kill you. Right now, you don’t have the power to resist a level four Emperor."

Gravis looked like he had just heard something ridiculous. "That guy had followers?" he asked.

When Styr saw Gravis’ expression, he had to chuckle a bit. "Yes. He might not conform to your or my mindset, but many beasts search for powerful leadership. The Lightning Ultimate was powerful, and his arrogance demonstrated his power to the beasts, which made a lot of them follow him."

Gravis huffed but kept silent. He didn’t get how some beasts could think like that, but there was no sense in getting angry over it. Stupidity was just stupidity.

"So, our children are now fighting on the frontlines?" Gravis asked Azure.

"Probably," Azure said. "I didn’t check."

Gravis still couldn’t get used to Azure’s disregard for their children, but he didn’t comment on it.

"What about the Icy Pride Empire?" he asked.

"It’s now the Metal Mountain Empire," Azure answered. "As soon as Styr and I left the land beast camp, the council sent a new level three Emperor to rule the Empire. Of course, a beast with metal affinity was chosen due to my Mountain of Pride. The metal affinity beasts had always desired to stay on a huge mountain made of metal."

"Makes sense," Gravis said. However, he didn’t feel particularly great about that fact. His home, the Icy Pride Empire, had completely changed with the departure of Azure and Styr. This basically meant that the Icy Pride Empire had completely vanished in Gravis’ absence.

Gravis, Styr, and Azure talked for a couple more hours, but then it was time for them to leave. They wanted to reach the next world as soon as possible. Their Battle-Strength was not as powerful as Ferris’ Battle-Strength, but the next world shouldn’t be as dangerous as this one. After all, this world was meant to create powerful beasts for the highest world.

Styr and Azure quickly killed their Striders and became Immortals. Styr turned into an old man with white hair, while Azure surprisingly turned into a young woman with icy-blue hair. According to human standards, she looked to be in her twenties.

Gravis had expected Azure’s human form to appear older since she always acted so taciturn and distant, but, apparently, he was mistaken. It seemed like Azure considered herself to be rather young.

"I can feel it," Azure said as she took a deep breath. "This form makes it even easier to understand Laws."

This confirmed Gravis’ suspicion that humans had a closer connection to the Laws. However, he was unsure if he had that connection. After all, his soul was human, but his body was that of a beast.

"Don’t take too long, Gravis," Styr said with a smile. "Otherwise, we will reach your home before you, and when that happens, it would be awkward to visit you when you’re not currently home."

Gravis chuckled. "I’ll try my best, but I can’t promise anything," he said. "I wish you the best on your journey."

Styr smiled as he wished Gravis the same and left the world. Azure also turned to Gravis.

Surprisingly, she smiled at him. "See you soon, Gravis," she said.

Then, she also left.

Gravis was a bit surprised and scratched his chin. ’I wonder, have I ever seen Azure smile before? I only saw her smirk or smile in disdain. Huh, apparently, she can also smile. Who knew?’

Silence returned, and after some minutes, Gravis sighed.

’Ferris is gone. Styr is gone. Azure is gone. The Icy Pride Empire is gone. This world is slowly becoming lonely. Only 95 years of my seclusion have passed, but one friend after the other is leaving the world. Now, there’s only Meadow, Orthar, and my three little kids. Meadow won’t leave in quite a while, and Orthar will leave with me. As for my three children, I don’t know. Anything could happen.’

"Meadow, are you there?" Gravis suddenly asked.

"Bitch, I’m everywhere," Meadow immediately answered.

Gravis had to chuckle when he heard her again. "Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

"Why should I?" Meadow answered. "You’re cultivating. Interrupting others in their cultivation is shitty."

Gravis chuckled some more. "Like I’m doing now?"

"Yeh," Meadow said like it was obvious. "Like you’re doing now. So, could you do me a solid and shut the fuck up?"

"Sorry," Gravis said with a smile.

"Also, you have your accessory to talk to if you feel lonely," Meadow said.

"Accessory?" Gravis asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that guy at the edge of your clearing," Meadow said.

Gravis turned around and looked behind him.

There, he saw Morus in the distance.

Gravis blinked a couple of times.

"Huh, I forgot he existed."

Chapter 619 - 619 – Morus, Go Do Something!

Gravis scratched his chin as he looked at Morus. He honestly had totally forgotten him. With Morus’ new mindset, he wouldn’t dare to speak up by himself without having a good reason to, which made him remain silent at a distance.

"Have you watched me for the past 95 years?" Gravis asked Morus.

"Yes, Master," Morus said deferentially.

"Did you, at least, learn something?" Gravis asked.

Morus nodded. "I have learned a lot about the Laws, Master. Your mastering of the Laws has given me insights into my own Laws. Your continual creation of heat, especially, taught me a lot more about fire and how to use it."

Gravis sighed. "Man, and I nearly had a bad conscience about boring you for so long. But, hey, it’s good that you learned something during that time. Yet, I don’t want to unnecessarily bore you," Gravis said as he fell into thought.

After some seconds, a light gleam appeared inside Gravis’ eyes.

"Morus," Gravis said with authority.

"Master!" Morus said, realizing that Gravis had an order.

"Join the war from the side of the land beasts’ camp and become a level three Emperor," Gravis ordered.

"I will, Master," Morus said as he immediately shot away into the distance. He didn’t dare question his Master’s orders.

Gravis rubbed his chin in satisfaction as he set another plan into motion. ’This will become interesting,’ he thought.

Then, he turned back to the Grand Lake. ’I should continue with the Law of Heat,’ Gravis thought.

And sure enough, Gravis went back to creating more heat.

15 years later. Gravis had been in seclusion for 120 years, his longest seclusion yet.

BOOOOM!

’Finally!’ Gravis thought with excitement. It had taken him a full 45 years to understand the Law of Heat, but in the end, he succeeded. Another level two Law was added to the ever-growing pile.

’This will be of some help,’ Gravis thought. ’With this Law, I can weaken someone else. The heat will make it difficult for my enemy to regenerate themselves, and they need to continually keep their defenses up. At least, that’s how it would go against someone three levels above me. In order to use that Law effectively against someone four levels above me, I would need to keep them weakened with my other Composition Laws.’

’Sadly, keeping this Law running requires Energy, which is not a resource that I can use lightly in such a terrifying fight. So, I guess that this Law won’t help me that much, actually. Yet...’ Gravis thought as he trailed off, his gaze wandering to the sky.

Then, Gravis shook his head wildly. ’No! Not yet! One thing after the other. Let’s first finish the other Mixed Elemental Laws. After that, I can take a look at the more exotic Laws,’ Gravis thought as he smirked.

’Only the Mixed Laws involving lightning remain. This will be very fun!’ Gravis thought.

BZZZZZ!

Gravis summoned some lightning in his hand and gathered some earth in the other. Then, he pushed them together, which was the same way he had learned about the Law of Liquid Metal.

CRRRR!

And the stone broke apart as it was destroyed by the lightning.

First, Gravis frowned, but then he realized the issue. ’Punishment Lightning is a level three Law while this is only the most normal kind of earth, which represents a level one Law. My Punishment Lightning is too powerful for a fusion.’

Gravis smirked. ’Well, I already understand the Composition Law of Lightning, so I can just use Destruction Lightning,’ Gravis thought.

BZZZZ!

The Punishment Lightning transformed into Destruction Lightning as Gravis pushed the two things together once again.

CRRRR!

Sure enough, this time, the stone wasn’t destroyed. Instead, the stone started to change subtly. After some seconds, all the lightning vanished as the stone remained.

Yet, with Gravis’ affinity towards lightning, he could still feel the lightning. Currently, the lightning was inside the stone. However, the stone exhibited no sign of having lightning inside of it.

Gravis scratched his chin as he inspected the stone. The lightning was inside the stone, but the stone was not hurt in any way. This was quite surprising to him since the power of the two components had been about the same. With Destruction Lightning’s destructive nature, the stone should have turned to dust. Yet, it remained unharmed.

Gravis grabbed the stone and threw it at a mountain.

BOOOOOM!

The stone exploded, and with it, an explosion of lightning suddenly appeared. There hadn’t been much Energy inside the two components, which didn’t make the explosion powerful enough to destroy the mountain, but it made quite a big hole.

Gravis’ eyes shone when he saw that. ’That’s useful!’ he thought with excitement. ’I can think of some uses for that. I could throw a lot of normal stones with some of these stones mixed in-between. My opponent won’t be able to feel the lightning inside of it and will be quite surprised when one of the stones suddenly explodes with lightning.’

Yet, even though Gravis found something rather exciting, he only sighed. ’Sadly, I can’t use Punishment Lightning in the fusion. Even if I transform all my Punishment Lightning into Destruction Lightning and use all of it at once, it wouldn’t even scratch my opponent. The power of Destruction Lightning is simply too weak.’

’Wait a second. I wonder...’ Gravis thought as he grabbed another stone.

BZZZ!

Then, Gravis did the same thing again, but with Life Lightning. Sadly, the Life Lightning only made the stone harder, for some reason. It didn’t actually get saved in the stone like Destruction Lightning.

’That’s boring,’ Gravis thought with a frown. ’Even if I continually infuse this stone with Life Lightning for years, it will only become harder. Sure, I could maybe create something even harder than my weapons, but stone is not as flexible as metal. As soon as I strike someone once with the stone, it will just splinter.’

Gravis crossed his arms in an evaluating expression. ’I mean, it could be useful to transfer my brute force to something else over a distance, but my power is not nearly enough to injure an opponent I actually care about with that. It can basically just count as a slightly more powerful punch with a longer range.’

Gravis had to chuckle as a funny image appeared inside his head. ’Honestly, being able to save Life Lightning into a stone would have been way too funny. Just imagine throwing a stone at the head of one of your companions to heal them. That would be the most passive-aggressive way of healing a companion.’

’Anyway, enough of that. I should try to comprehend this weird kind of loaded earth or loaded stone,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis spent the next three years comprehending the stone, and surely enough, it didn’t take as long as the other Laws.

BOOOOM!

’As I’ve thought,’ Gravis thought with a smirk. ’As soon as something involves lightning, it’s far easier for me to understand. This was my fastest Law yet ever since I entered my seclusion.’

Then, Gravis grabbed some metal and did the same thing with metal and lightning.

After one try, Gravis saw the result, which was just a piece of metal that had lightning saved inside of it.

Gravis’ brows furrowed. ’Wait, isn’t that just the same as the runes I use on my equipment to make it store lightning?’

BOOOOM!

Gravis blinked a couple of times. ’Sure enough, it’s just the same thing. So, I was basically already using this Law without knowing it, huh? Well, now I know, I guess.’

In order to learn this Law, Gravis had only needed a couple of seconds. This was, by far, his fastest Law yet.

’Wonder if the other ones will also come so quickly.’

Chapter 620 - 620 - New Law, New Use

Gravis scratched his chin in satisfaction. He wondered if the other Laws would also come to him so quickly, but he doubted it. This Law had only been a coincidence since he had basically already comprehended the Law without knowing when he created his equipment.

’Next on the menu, water and lightning,’ Gravis thought as he grabbed a ton of water.

BZZZZ!

Sure enough, his Punishment lightning destroyed the water again. Because of that, he decided to use Destruction Lightning again. In comparison to the fusion with the stone, the fusion between lightning and water came very naturally. It was like the water naturally combined with lightning.

After only a second, Gravis looked at a sphere of water that had lightning going through it. ’Interesting. The water doesn’t break down my lightning but disperses its form. Instead of having the typical bolt form, the lightning inside the water is distributed throughout it. Every part of water has the same amount of lightning.’

Gravis also saw some lightning bolts leaving the water and striking the surroundings. ’As soon as the lightning leaves the water, it returns to its usual, bolt-like form. Yet, while inside the water, it automatically fuses with it.’

’This is a bit different to the fusion between earth and lightning. Loaded Stone has the lightning stationary saved inside it while the water keeps the lightning flowing. One keeps it stationary while the other acts like some kind of domain that keeps the form of lightning changed,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin.

Two years later. Gravis had been in seclusion for 125 years.

BOOOOM!

Gravis smirked. ’Sure enough, this Law was quite easy. The fusion between water and lightning appears to be very natural. Additionally, it also works with Life Lightning. Yet, the water also changes the form of the Life Lightning.’

How exactly did Life Lightning work?

Light infused the microorganisms inside one’s body with more Energy. This made every microorganism have a greater effect than usual. Yet, if the body ran out of microorganisms, the body would still be without microorganisms. One could say that light multiplied the healing ability of the Life Energy inside one’s body.

Water directly transferred microorganisms from the user’s body to the target body. This was why one could get healed without end by water, but with the same efficiency. The microorganisms did not receive increased strength from water. This also made it more difficult for water Cultivators and beasts to heal themselves. They were better at healing others than themselves.

Yet, that didn’t mean that water was useless when healing oneself. Due to the element of water, the beasts with such an affinity had an extra storage space for microorganisms. The Life Energy resided inside their Energy, a place where normally no Life Energy could be stored.

As for Life Lightning, it worked basically identically to light. In the lower world, there had been quite a big difference between light and Life Lightning. Back then, light required the user to use their own Life Energy to stimulate the Life Energy in the target. Meanwhile, Life Lightning had been able to transform Energy into the same kind of healing effect.

Obviously, Life Lightning was far superior to light in these conditions. Yet, that was only so because the light element in the lower world didn’t even count as a level one Law. Meanwhile, Life Lightning typically required someone to have understood the Composition of Lightning, which was a level one Law.

Because of that, it was natural that Life Lightning had been superior to light in the lower world. Of course, as soon as beasts reached the Unity Realm, they automatically understood the level one Law equivalent of their element. This also meant that the usual kind of light element in the middle world had the same effectiveness as Life Lightning. Both of them used Energy to stimulate the Life Energy in the target.

So, the question was, how did water change Life Lightning?

It was rather simple. The Energy inside the Life Lightning fused with the water and created pure Life Energy. This meant that new microorganisms would be created inside the water sphere.

The healing effect of this kind of fusion was not really higher than pure Life Lightning, but it had different uses. When someone was running out of Life Energy, the loaded sphere of water infused with Life Lightning would be able to grant the target more Life Energy. Then, one could use pure Life Lightning to increase the effectiveness of the added Life Energy.

Just like with nearly everything else, this thing wasn’t more powerful but became more useful in certain situations. Now, since Gravis knew the Law of Loaded Water, he could choose either or both ways to heal someone. This meant that, as long as Gravis had Energy, he could heal someone indefinitely.

’It’s also more Energy efficient,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. ’When I’m already low on Life Energy, it takes a lot to heal myself to full health. Yet, if I simply infuse some microorganisms into my body and then increase their effectivity, I can cut down the Energy cost by half.’

But instead of being happy, Gravis only smiled bitterly. ’Sadly, I already know the five Laws of Body Growth. This already increases my healing efficiency by a lot. So, at best, using this Law can cut down my Energy usage when healing myself by 25%.’

Then, Gravis remembered something. ’Speaking of, I should get on that Law.’

Five years later. 130 years since the start of Gravis’ seclusion.

BOOOOM!

’And done. Level two Law of Body Growth has been finished!’ Gravis thought with excitement.

Gravis had just remembered that he should have all the prerequisite Laws of understanding this Law. That was why this level two Law came rather quickly, only needing five years.

’That’s my ninth level two Law. Now, I should know about as many level two Laws as Sary. Yet, I’m only a level five King,’ Gravis thought with a smirk.

What was the use of Gravis’ new Law?

The use of this Law was debatable. According to what the user preferred, this Law could either have very little use or great use.

’I wonder how it feels like,’ Gravis thought. ’Well, let’s try it out.’

CRRR! SHHH!

Gravis’ body started deforming as scales and bones broke. A lot of dead material fell off his body and gathered on the ground, creating a small mountain. One shouldn’t forget that Gravis was over a kilometer tall.

Flesh, blood, bone, organs, scales, and everything else that was inside a body fell to the ground and gathered. Yet, only some seconds later, something new was revealed as more body parts fell off Gravis’ body.

Pinkish-white skin could be seen as it touched the sunlight for the first time. After that, hair could be seen as Gravis’ old skull fell to the ground.

Some seconds later, everything was finished.

In the air stood a human.

Yes, with this Law, Gravis could change the entire form of his body into something else. The only prerequisite was that everything of the old body had to fit in the new one.

Right now, Gravis was back in a human body. His hair was black, a color that he preferred. He had never been a fan of his old, weird eyes and his white hair. He liked his original body far more. The shape of his body was athletic with toned muscles.

Gravis opened his black eyes and looked at the surroundings. While he did that, he smirked as he used his Spirit to inspect his new looks. Even though his eyes and hair had returned to normal, something else had changed.

Gravis’ hand went to his chin, but instead of feeling skin, he felt hair.

Gravis combed his new goatee.

Additionally, his face had also changed. Before Gravis had become a beast, he had looked more like an old teenager or very young adult.

But, right now, Gravis looked middle-aged. Gravis now had the face of a handsome man in his younger forties. His demeanor radiated a charismatic maturity.

Gravis had changed immensely ever since he had come to this world. He had entered as a young adult but became a more mature person as more time passed. He now had children that were many times older than he had been when he came to this world.

His hellbent obsession with becoming as powerful as quickly as possible had also changed into a more secure approach. Now, he prepared himself very well for his future fights to get the most out of his Battle-Strength as possible.

Due to all of this, Gravis no longer felt comfortable in the body of a young adult. He was a mature, experienced adult now.

If one saw him, they could tell that Gravis and Orpheus were related. Gravis’ face looked very similar to Orpheus’ face when he smirked or smiled. Orpheus also had the look of a middle-aged man, which also fit his personality rather well.

’Looking good,’ Gravis thought to himself with a smirk as he looked at his face.

Yet, he narrowed his eyes quickly, a cold gleam coming out of them. His narrowed eyes no longer gave the feeling of an angry teenager but of a judging Clan Patriarch.

As soon as Gravis’ expression changed into a cold one, he looked very different from Orpheus. With this expression, he looked much more like his father, the Opposer. The only obviously noticeable difference was the facial hair since his father was always clean-shaven.

’I’m still over a kilometer tall,’ Gravis thought.