Ch. 831..840

Chapter 831 - 831 – Power Of Brilliance

Gravis really didn’t look forward to comprehending more about Brilliance, but it was the best element to comprehend right now, sadly. Gravis had comprehended the Inferno and Punishment Lightning Laws, and both of them had quite a good affinity towards Brilliance.

SHING!

Gravis arrived at his next Law Comprehension Area, which was a cave filled with the Brilliance element, but not entirely.

There were some Law Comprehension Areas that could be created artificially. Not all of them had to be created by nature or Arc. This was one of these areas.

Many years ago, someone with the Brilliance Element decided to create this area. In order to artificially create a Law Comprehension Area, one had to know how a natural one would work. Then, one only needed to simulate these processes.

This sounded relatively easy, and it was, but the biggest issue was the Energy requirement. It took an unreal amount of Energy to create such a Law Comprehension Area.

So? There were a lot of powerful Cultivators. Why not just get one of those?

Sadly, it didn’t work like that.

Why had the shop that sold Gravis the Virtualization Arrays, the Smart Cultivator, used God Stones as fuel? Couldn’t they have used their own Energy?

The problem was that the Energy couldn’t have a will on it. Even a Star God wouldn’t be able to create these Law Comprehension Areas unless they also used Immortal or God Stones.

This meant that someone in the past had been willing to spend a fortune to create this Law Comprehension Area. Back then, it had probably also completely belonged to them, but after so many years had passed, no one remembered the creator.

Thus, this artificial Law Comprehension Area was handled just like a natural one.

Gravis went through his routine and entered the cave. While walking inside the cave, Gravis only felt warmth and calm.

This was the Law Comprehension Area for Brilliance’s Healing.

The ugly side of Brilliance wouldn’t appear here, which made this one of the least stressful Laws to comprehend.

Gravis sat down in the middle near some other Cultivators and took out his saber.

Then, he cut crevices into his body in different places.

The other disciples looked at him with a complex expression. Yes, it would be easier to comprehend the Law by actually being healed, but it was also uncomfortable to look at someone mutilating themselves.

Gravis didn’t really care. Physical pain had basically stopped existing for him. Gravis had been under so much pain for so much time that it was annoying at worst. It was simply like an annoying fly that flew around him.

After a while, Gravis lost himself again, and before he knew it, he had comprehended the Law of Brilliance’s Healing.

BOOOOM!

Gravis stood up and left the Law Comprehension Area, directly going to the next one.

And so, more and more years passed.

Gravis managed to comprehend the Law of Brilliance’s Power next, which was basically the same process as understanding the Element of Brilliance, just even more annoying.

The next Law had been the Law of Brilliance’s Burning. As the name implied, this Law strengthened the burning part of the Brilliance Element. Together with the Law of Brilliance’s Power, Gravis could now unleash quite a powerful area attack.

The next one was the Law of Brilliance’s Concentration. Obviously, this was a Law that allowed someone to concentrate the Brilliance Element even more. Back in the middle world, the Light Ultimate had killed the Metal Ultimate by concentrating a lot of her light into a single beam.

Of course, back then, the Light Ultimate hadn’t comprehended Brilliance. She had simply used the normal light element. With the Law of Brilliance’s Concentration, Gravis could load up an attack far faster than the Light Ultimate back then.

Additionally, that attack would be truly powerful. By slowly gathering more and more Brilliance, Gravis would continually refine his Energy more and more. Theoretically, if Gravis had enough time, the attack would even reach the power of Mortality.

That was a lot of power.

The last Brilliance Law Gravis had decided to comprehend was the Law of Brilliance’ Efficiency. That Law didn’t need any explaining.

Wait, but hadn’t that Light Ultimate comprehended another kind of Law? Hadn’t she comprehended the Law of Light’s Speed?

True, but Gravis decided to skip the Speed Laws for Brilliance. These five Battle Laws per Element were obviously not all level four Laws related to the Elements. There were a lot more.

Brilliance had probably the fastest speed out of any element, but it also cost an incredible amount of Energy to use. Gravis was already very fast, and his movement didn’t require much Energy. Because of that, Gravis decided against comprehending the Law of Brilliance’s Speed.

Gravis had simply picked out five of these Battle Laws for every element. He had looked at them and had decided which one would supplement his fighting style the best.

For example, the Battle Laws for Inferno had all perfectly combined into two attacks, one direct attack, and one area attack. Meanwhile, the Storm Laws could all be combined into a single wide-area attack with a lot of pushback. If anyone came too close, Gravis could blow them away.

What about Brilliance?

Gravis had chosen these Brilliance Laws for two reasons.

First of all, Gravis had noticed that his body was no longer healing as quickly. The Law of Energy Healing was a level three Law, and the more powerful Gravis’ body became, the slower the Law would become.

Because of that, Gravis needed something else to heal himself with, which was the Law of Brilliance. Together with the Law of Brilliance’s Healing, Law of Brilliance’s Power, and Law of Brilliance’s Efficiency, Gravis could now heal himself with incredible speed again.

The second reason was for a concentrated all-out attack. Gravis’ Lightning Crescent was very powerful and could be unleashed in an instant, but there were two issues.

First issue: His Lightning Crescent was fast but not super-fast. Additionally, Gravis had to swing his saber first, which would give the enemy an inkling of what would come.

Second issue: Gravis’ Lightning Crescent exploded into the surroundings, scattering its power. Only a small part of the attack’s actual power would hit the enemy. One could say that Gravis’ Lightning Crescent was a weird mix of a single target attack and an area attack. It was kind of both of them, but also none of them at the same time.

The second issue had been solved by the invention of Mortality, but Mortality had its own issue, which was the long wind-up time. Enemies could run into the distance or attack the lightning runes to stop the attack. In both cases, Gravis would have unveiled one of his trump cards without gaining anything.

However, all these problems didn’t exist with Brilliance.

Gravis had the Laws of Brilliance’s Power, Brilliance’s Burning, Brilliance’s Concentration, and Brilliance’s Efficiency for the attack.

So, how did the attack work?

Gravis would slowly build a more and more powerful laser. The wind-up time was several times longer than Mortality, and in the end, the power would be about equal.

However, the wind-up was hidden, and Gravis could move during it. Gravis could add more and more Energy passively into his laser while fighting normally.

Then, when the attack was ready, Gravis could simply point his finger forward, and an insanely powerful laser would instantly shoot at the enemy. Its speed would be even faster than Gravis’ Lightning Crescent.

Gravis hated the Brilliance Element, but he had to concede that it was one of the most useful Elements that existed for the current him. It allowed Gravis to heal himself, and it allowed Gravis to create an attack with the power of Mortality but without its weaknesses.

Gravis had all of these things planned out, and the future Battle Laws would also make him stronger.

However, right now, it was time to take a break.

Gravis had sworn an oath that he would take a break just to be safe, but that had been unnecessary.

Gravis knew that he needed to take a break right now since his answers started to be slightly scary again.

’Brilliance took a bit longer, about 2783 years,’ Gravis thought. ’I’m over 11,000 years old now. However, it doesn’t feel like it at all.’

’Well, time for a break!’

Gravis took out Arc’s emblem and destroyed it, leaving the Sect Alliance once again.

Chapter 832 - 832 – Purist

It felt like Gravis hadn’t been away for long, but for the others, thousands of years had passed.

Gravis had to release a heavy sigh when he heard that about 20% of all his students had died by now. Unity Realm Cultivators and beasts could only live for a single millennium, but nearly none of them would die of old age. They would either reach the next Realm or die in battle.

However, the 80% that were still alive had all reached the Law Comprehension Realm at least. There were even some that had already become Immortal.

80% was an incredible ratio. Apparently, Gravis’ and Arc’s teachings had a great effect on the students.

These little kids that Gravis had taught back then had all either grown up or had died. Maybe to them, Gravis had been a nice substitute teacher an eternity ago. They had met him back then but hadn’t seen him again for their entire life.

Some of Gravis’ old students were visiting, but nearly none of them recognized him. Only after Gravis informed them of who he was would some of them remember him and talk about old times.

Fortunately, Gravis hadn’t been an important person in their life. Not seeing him for their entire life wasn’t much of a loss to them.

However, this showed Gravis again how difficult it was for someone to have a family while still cultivating. According to his own perception, Gravis had only been away for a little bit, but everyone else thought that it had been an eternity.

Luckily, Gravis’ three children had also entered the path of Cultivation. Otherwise, all of them would have died of old age a long time ago. Sadly, it was still difficult to think about Aris and Cera. Both of them were in different higher worlds right now, and they had left immediately. In fact, since Gravis had spent over a thousand years in his homeworld, his two children were now much older than him.

It pained Gravis to think about it, but Aris and Cera had probably already fully dissociated from him. Time was cruel. It made everything fade.

’I shouldn’t be so selfish,’ Gravis thought with a sigh. ’They are happy even without me, so I should be happy for them. It’s their life, not mine.’

Gravis wasn’t really worried about Yersi. Gravis had spent a really long time with Yersi, and she was also in the highest world, which meant that time was progressing ten times slower. Yersi would still care about him.

’If she’s still alive,’ Gravis thought with worry.

Gravis spent some hours in melancholy but had to stop when a new class arrived. All the old students were either adults or dead now, which meant that Gravis got to know a lot of new people and beasts.

By now, Gravis was pretty good at teaching students, and the students also had a ton of fun. Gravis mainly just talked and joked with them as he only explained the things that the students were interested in.

Gravis also met a lot of new Immortals and Immortal Kings. After all, there were a lot of them, and they only came here for a couple of years every ten-thousand years or so.

Gravis even met someone from the Purist Sect. However, that person was very taciturn. It was like he only answered Gravis when he asked a question, and then also only in the least amount of words as possible.

Gravis wasn’t sure if that guy wanted to talk to him, but he didn’t want to assume.

So, Gravis asked him.

Surprisingly enough, after Gravis asked the guy about these short answers, the guy became surprised. After that, he apologized and said that it hadn’t been his intention to be this curt. It was simply how he was used to talking.

Apparently, the disciples of the Purist Sect disliked empty words. Their mindset was more akin to beasts, and they believed that words were empty. Only actions would truly show someone’s personality.

Gravis thought that this Sect sounded quite similar to him, but the guy told Gravis that he wouldn’t fit in.

The Purist Sect was brutal, arrogant, and direct. They had the most powerful disciples, and in comparison to all the other Sects, they didn’t rely on any kind of fancy and worldly Laws. They only concentrated on these element-neutral weapon-like Laws.

This created a feeling of superiority in the members of the Purist Sect. They believed that they were the only ones that didn’t need to rely on outside help, the Laws of the Elements and so on. They didn’t need the help of the world to win their fights.

No matter who opposed them, one single slash would kill them.

Gravis found that mindset idiotic. Weren’t these element-neutral Laws also just Laws? All Laws were basically the same in Gravis’ mind. It didn’t matter if they were element-neutral or not.

In Gravis’ mind, this was just some kind of arbitrary, subjective standard. Their power was the purest, which made them supreme.

This reminded Gravis of his past delusion of having a pure path. He had thought just like this in the past. Gravis had always told himself that he had achieved everything by himself and that accepting help from someone else would only damage his own path.

However, that was not the case at all. Just like the Black Magnate had said, power was everything. It didn’t matter what kind of power it was. In the end, the more powerful one would survive while the weaker one died.

Could the Black Magnate be wrong?

There was a possibility, but it was minuscule.

Who was the Black Magnate?

He was one of the most powerful beings in existence, a Heaven’s Magnate. He had reached the peak of normally achievable power. One could say that the Black Magnate had a lot of authority when talking about power.

Also, the Opposer hadn’t contradicted the Black Magnate’s words about power either.

One side was a Sect in a higher world with not a single God, while the other side were two of the most powerful beings in existence.

There was no comparison.

After talking with the guy for a while, Gravis decided that the Purist Sect really wasn’t for him. They reminded him too much of his past self.

However, the guy had been quite nice, and he had also talked a lot more after Gravis highlighted his curt answers. Of course, something like that wasn’t a surprise. All Sects were filled with different people, and even when there was a general mindset for a greater collective, not every individual would perfectly reflect it.

Gravis’ pause felt much longer than his last Law Comprehension Session, which felt bizarre to him. One was only a hundred years long, while the other had been multiple thousand years long.

No matter how often Gravis noticed it, his perception of time just felt so surreal.

After the century was up, Gravis left Arc’s clearing again and went back to comprehending more Laws.

Five sets were left.

’I think I should comprehend two sets, take another break, comprehend the last three sets, take another break, and then concentrate on the Laws I can comprehend on my own. After all, I should also take care of my primary Laws.’

Gravis found this plan pretty good and left for the next Law Comprehension Area.

Next stop: Frost!

Chapter 833 - 833 – Different Suppression

The first Law that Gravis decided to comprehend was the Law of Frost’s Cold. Just like the Law of Inferno’s Heat, the Law of Frost’s Cold was an element-specific temperature Law.

This was exactly the Law that Samantha had used back when Gravis fought her. She had been able to unleash the Law as a domain, but with her Weapon Techniques, she had also been able to concentrate the power of this Law into her rapier.

Gravis had decided to understand this Law in case he fought someone with the Inferno Element. The Law of Inferno’s Heat would obviously not be as effective against such an opponent. Additionally, the Law of Frost’s Cold had a different secondary effect, which was very important to Gravis.

The Law of Inferno’s Heat would damage an opponent and force them to use more Energy to protect themselves. One could say that the Law of Inferno’s Heat had greater destructive power than the Law of Frost’s Cold.

However, the Law of Frost’s Cold made it harder for the opponent to move. It didn’t only affect the Cultivator, but also the area around them. The stiffness of the cold would slow down their movements by quite a bit.

Gravis quickly informed the disciples and went on to comprehend the Law, and just like always, he managed to comprehend it after nearly no time.

Every time Gravis comprehended another Law, it felt like a piece of time had been cut out from his life. It was like he time traveled into the future since it felt like no time had actually passed. It was a weird feeling, but Gravis had become somewhat used to it by now.

Gravis’ next stop was the Law of Frost’s Penetration.

The Element of Brilliance had the magical attribute that it seemingly penetrated the body’s defense and attacked everything simultaneously. The Law of Frost’s Penetration would allow Gravis’ Element of Frost to do something similar.

The cold temperature would enter the body of the opponent, freezing over their joints and muscles. Sadly, since the cold temperature would be spread over a bigger volume, its attacking power would be reduced.

However, this was not the reason why Gravis wanted this Law. He wanted this Law to slow down the opponent even more. With this Law, he wouldn’t need to freeze their body from outside to inside. He could directly affect their muscles and joints now.

If Gravis wanted to unleash a wide-area attack with a lot of damage, he would simply use the Law of Inferno’s Heat.

Gravis still remembered how useful his Laws of Heat and Cold had been in his fight against the Tornado Emperor. Back then, he had continually switched between hot and cold to disorient his opponent.

Sadly, Gravis couldn’t use his new Laws continually anymore. His level three Law of Temperatures had made it so that the Laws of Heat and Cold didn’t need any Energy anymore.

However, this was no longer the case. The Laws of Inferno’s Heat and Frost’s Cold were level four Laws, while the Law of Temperatures was a level three Law. It only had a mediocre effect on these two Laws due to the power difference.

This meant that Gravis had to be more careful with his usage, at least until he comprehended the level five Law of Temperatures. Of course, this Law would only become relevant in the future.

The third Battle Law of Frost was the Law of Frost’s Concentration. With this Law, Gravis could also infuse his weapon with the element, similar to what Samantha had done. However, instead of using a Weapon Technique, Gravis would directly use another Law to accomplish this. The effect wasn’t as good, but it was a suitable replacement.

The fourth Battle Law of Frost was the Law of Efficiency. Using the Law of Frost’s Cold had a significant Energy requirement, and Gravis needed to reduce it. The less Energy it cost, the better.

The last Battle Law of Frost was the Law of Frost’s Power. It simply increased the power of the Frost Element.

By looking at these five Laws, one would be able to see what Gravis had planned.

The Law of Frost’s Cold gave Gravis a powerful area attack, which also slowed down the enemy’s movements.

The Law of Frost’s Penetration allowed Gravis to directly affect the inner parts of the enemy’s body, reducing its attacking power but increasing the slowing effect.

The Law of Frost’s Efficiency allowed Gravis to keep this effect up for much longer.

The last Law, the Law of Frost’s Power, seemed to only increase the attacking power, but that was not the case. The Law could be used in different ways. Sure, by making the Law of Frost’s Cold even colder, the attacking power would logically increase, but that was not Gravis’ primary goal.

The Law of Frost’s Power also increased the slowing effect.

So, by adding these four Laws together, one would be able to see what Gravis had in mind.

Gravis used the Frost Element solely to slow the enemy.

That was all.

Why?

Didn’t Gravis already have his Will-Aura and the Law of Storm’s Pressure for that?

Yes, but this one would help even more.

How?

The Will-Aura slowed the enemy by suppressing their Spirit, being, and mind.

The Law of Storm’s Pressure slowed the enemy by increasing the density of the enemy’s surroundings. The Will-Aura already slowed the enemy, and then they would also have to move through a seemingly solid block of metal created by pressure.

Now, the Law of Frost’s Cold would normally only slow down the enemy by affecting the surroundings, just like the Law of Storm’s Pressure. However, by combining it with the Law of Frost’s Penetration, one could also use it on the enemy’s body.

This was an entirely different kind of suppression.

The Will-Aura was a form of spiritual suppression.

The Law of Storm’s Pressure was a form of outside suppression.

The Law of Frost’s Cold with the Law of Frost’s Penetration was a form of inside suppression.

All three things worked on different parts of the enemy, making them not interfere with each other and allowing them to still unleash their full power.

If Gravis would use the normal Law of Frost’s Cold together with the Law of Storm’s Pressure, the surroundings would only become a little bit harder to navigate through. After all, the surrounding air would already be as hard as metal. Freezing it on top of that would only make it slightly harder.

However, by affecting the inner workings of the enemy’s body directly, it could unleash everything.

With everything added together, the enemy would be slowed to an incredible degree.

However, as everyone knows, advantages and disadvantages, right?

The disadvantage was that Gravis would have to keep two powerful level four Laws going simultaneously. This would cost him an incredible amount of Energy.

This was also the reason why Gravis had decided to comprehend the Efficiency Laws of both Storm and Frost. He had to keep these two Laws going while still fighting with his Punishment Lightning.

One had to remember that these two Laws would be activated on top of Gravis’ usual Laws. They wouldn’t replace Gravis’s current Laws but be added to them, forcing Gravis to use far more Energy than normal.

With this new addition, Gravis now had to do a lot of different things while fighting.

Gravis would need to have his Will-Aura active.

Gravis would need to have his Law of Storm’s Pressure and its supporting Laws active.

Gravis would need to have his Law of Frost’s Cold and its supporting Laws active.

Gravis would need to have his Laws of Perceived Reality active.

Gravis would need to keep juggling his Laws of Time and Gravity.

Gravis would have to handle his equipment and reforge it when necessary in the battle.

And then, Gravis would still need to battle his enemy.

This was an incredible amount of multitasking that Gravis had to do. However, this was exactly why his Battle-Strength was so powerful. He was using all of his powers in very different ways to supplement each other.

What did an average enemy do?

They used their Will-Aura and unleashed their Weapon Techniques.

That was about it.

Gravis sighed when he finished comprehending his Frost Laws. ’Fighting becomes more and more complex the more powerful I become. It would be so much easier if I could just unleash a Lightning Crescent and be done with it.’

’Anyway, comprehending these Frost Laws took me about 3,051 years. Sure enough, the lower my affinity towards something, the longer it takes to comprehend it, even with my increased experience. I still have one Element left in which I’m kind of good at, but the other three will probably take even longer.’

’By now, I’m far older than any Law Comprehension Realm Cultivator or beast. I’m over 14,400 years old now. Back when I met Ferris, I felt like he had been ancient when he told me that he was like 3,000 years old.’

’Time just becomes faster and faster the more powerful I become. I wonder, is this also a facet of time? I think so. After all, I haven’t specifically targeted the Law of Time back then. I simply comprehended it in my battle against the Tornado Emperor.’

’The perception of time is already a learning experience in and of itself. The more I feel the effects of time, the closer I get to learning the level six Law of Time.’

Gravis chuckled bitterly. ’However, that is far in the future.’

’Right now, I should continue.’

SHING!

Gravis teleported away as he went to his next Law Comprehension Area.

Next Stop: Shadow!

Chapter 834 - 834 – Shadow

Gravis went to the next Law Comprehension Area, which was the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety.

The Element of Shadow was already supreme when it came to hiding oneself, and the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety pushed that advantage even further.

The Law of Shadow would shroud someone in deep darkness, hiding them from the Spirit Sense of someone else, but the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety would even disperse this darkness. This meant that the enemy couldn’t even see the Cultivator.

Cultivators used their Spirit Sense to perceive their surroundings, but they still had eyes and ears. The chances of being seen were not high, but they were still there. However, the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety would even destroy that disadvantage.

When one comprehended this Law, they would be truly hidden from everything.

That one spy from Underworld that Stella had killed had also used that Law. He had been invisible to Spirit Sense and also to sight. The only reason why Stella had been able to notice the spy was because she could also use the Shadow Element due to her Major Law of the Elements.

The spy had been sent by Underworld to keep watch over Gravis, not Stella. Because of that, he had only gotten information about Gravis. This had been enough. After all, he hadn’t been noticed by Gravis.

Sadly, Stella had been there, and he had no idea who Stella was. He only knew that Stella and Gravis were talking to each other. Additionally, Stella was dressed in red armor and had red hair. Together with a saber as the choice of her weapon, it was basically impossible for her to be a darkness Cultivator. This meant that she would also not notice him.

Even though the spy had died miserably, he had still been able to hide from Gravis. This showed how effective the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety was. After all, how difficult was it to hide from someone like Gravis?

Gravis had seen the effect of this Law for himself and decided that he needed it. Sometimes, he needed to remain hidden.

What if some powerful enemies chased him?

What if these enemies were beyond the current him?

In that situation, Gravis would need to increase his Realm by absorbing Immortal Stones, but that would take about an hour.

So, in short, the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety was there to ensure Gravis’ life if something didn’t go according to plan.

After seemingly no time, Gravis had comprehended the Law and directly went to the next Law Comprehension Area, the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Shadow’s Poisoning.

Gravis’ level one Law of Darkness’ Poisoning had saved his life against Stella. Because of that, Gravis decided to upgrade it. After all, what if he reached a deadlock like this again? In that case, Gravis would only have his beast body as an advantage but killing someone in such a deadlock was difficult. The best Gravis could do was to draw blood from his opponent.

Luckily, drawing blood was all it needed to make use of the Law of Shadow’s Poisoning.

Therefore, Gravis decided to comprehend this Law.

After Gravis was done with this one, he went to the next Law Comprehension Area, the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Shadow’s Movement.

The Shadow Element wasn’t fast at all. So, why comprehend the Movement Law of such a slow Element?

The reason for that was that the movement of this Law was different.

It was a kind of teleportation without using the Law of Space. Whenever two enemies fought, they froze space around them, making it impossible to teleport. However, the Law of Shadow’s Movement would circumvent this restriction.

By using the Law of Shadow’s Movement, one would be able to teleport to any shadow in the surroundings. If one fought in the night, this would allow them to teleport anywhere, but during the day, they could only teleport to the shadows of trees, animals, rocks, and so on.

However, this Law would still be very useful in taking the enemy by surprise. If Gravis fought a very fast enemy, he could use this Law to take them by surprise. After all, one had to remember that Gravis’ main advantage was his speed, and if someone was superior to him in that regard, it would be difficult to close in on the enemy or gain distance.

Additionally, Gravis could use the Law of Shadow Movement to teleport to an unknown place and then directly use the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety to flee from a powerful enemy. The enemy would have no idea from where Gravis vanished, making it far harder to find him.

These three Laws already showed what Gravis had planned for the Battle Laws of Shadow.

He would use the Shadow Element for hiding and confusion. Successfully hiding from an opponent would not only secure Gravis’ life when something went wrong but would also give him the initiative when attacking. The enemy wouldn’t know where Gravis was, and with Gravis’ speed, the effect of such a surprise would be maximized.

After comprehending this Law, Gravis went to the next Law Comprehension Area, the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Shadow’s Darkness.

Shadow’s Darkness? What use was that?

Gravis had already come into contact with someone that used this Law.

Back when Gravis had fought the several Immortal Kings above the Unrestrained Sect, they had employed a Formation Array that emulated this Law. Everything around Gravis was dark, making it difficult for him to see anything.

The same thing would be true for Gravis’ enemies. This Law would cloud everything in darkness, making it harder to discern anything with one’s Spirit Sense or eyes.

Additionally, it had a wonderful synergy with the Laws of Shadow’s Subtlety and Shadow’s Movement.

Gravis could cloud an area in shadow, teleport to any random location inside the darkness and vanish into nothingness.

Gravis went through his routine and lost himself in Law Comp-

WHOOOOM!

BOOOOM!

An attack!

Gravis had seemingly just lost himself in the darkness when his Law of Safety had vanished.

However, his Law of Danger hadn’t been activated at all!

This was absolutely abnormal to Gravis!

On top of that, Gravis’ Law of Safety had vanished in an instant. It wasn’t like back when the attackers had appeared in the Unrestrained Sect. Back then, Gravis’ Law of Safety had vanished only slowly.

However, just now, Gravis’ Law of Safety had vanished in an instant!

This directly pulled Gravis out of his Law Comprehension, and he exploded with lightning. Gravis had no time to use any Laws since the attack had been so incredibly fast. On top of that, it came out of nowhere!

Gravis had been forced to detonate his own body with lightning, destroying the Law Comprehension Area and illuminating everything.

Gravis hadn’t felt a thing!

His Spirit Sense hadn’t cried out.

He hadn’t heard the enemy.

His Law of Danger hadn’t even been triggered!

If Gravis hadn’t known the Law of Safety, he would have died just now!

The explosion of lightning illuminated the surroundings, revealing a young, black-haired man with two black daggers.

Gravis’ body absorbed some of his lightning back, but he had already lost 50% of his entire Energy reserves just to survive this attack. Without this explosion, the enemy would have hit him.

And by the looks of it, that would have been the end of Gravis.

Why?

Because that attack had unveiled more power than any Sect Master should be able to unleash.

This meant that Gravis’ enemy was probably a Late Minor Circulation Immortal King.

However, something else surprised Gravis even more.

When he looked at the attacker, Gravis couldn’t tell their strength. It was like they were just a normal mortal without any power whatsoever.

No Law of the Shadow Element could accomplish something like that. This was a Law from a different kind of category, and Gravis already had a solid guess.

’The Law of Humility, one of the Emotional Laws,’ Gravis thought. ’So, that’s why I haven’t noticed him, even though I can also use the Shadow Element.’

’Additionally, he probably also knows the level three Law of Danger, which allowed him to cancel out my Law of Danger.’

’This guy is a perfect assassin!’

The cave in which Gravis had been just now had vanished. It had been transformed into a crater by the violent explosion of lightning.

However, nearly no light entered the crater as it was a moonless and cloudy night.

Gravis looked at his assassin, and the assassin looked at Gravis.

Lightning still floated around Gravis, and the assassin felt a terrifying feeling of danger as Gravis’ eyes looked into his.

This was not someone he could beat in a fight!

His assassination attempt had failed, and he needed to flee!

SHING!

The assassin used the Law of Shadow Movement and vanished into nothingness.

"Oh no, you don’t!" Gravis shouted, his feelings of shock transforming into rage as lightning exploded around him.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Lightning violently exploded behind Gravis as he used his Law of Time to accelerate his own time.

With an explosion, a shining and violent lightning bolt shot forward with an unreal amount of speed, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Chapter 835 - 835 – Assassin

A meteor of destruction charged through the landscape violently as it left behind a wake of destruction. Villages and mountains were destroyed as a long crater appeared along its way.

Gravis was furious!

Someone had directly tried to assassinate him out of nowhere, and they had nearly succeeded. Dying in a fight was one thing but dying to an assassination attempt was something else. Gravis would have had no misgivings if he got killed in a fight, but not like this.

Even worse, the assassination attempt had been incredibly dangerous. The assassin knew so many different Laws that made it difficult to find him. The only reason Gravis had been able to react appropriately was his Law of Safety. Everything else had been useless against this assassin.

Gravis had nearly died!

SHING! SHING! SHING!

The assassin used the Law of Shadow Movement several times in a row, always finding a new hiding spot and fleeing from there.

However, Gravis could follow him. After all, he also knew these Laws, which made it possible for Gravis to follow him. Otherwise, the assassin would have long vanished.

’That guy has really put everything on one card,’ Gravis thought with narrowed eyes. ’He could have attacked me earlier, but he waited specifically for the time I tried to comprehend the Law of Shadow’s Darkness.’

’In the Law Comprehension Area for Shadow’s Darkness, everything is dark, and it’s nearly impossible to sense or see anything. This had been the perfect opportunity for an assassination.’

Gravis’ eyes shone. ’However, this also meant that I would have already comprehended the other Shadow Laws.’

’If I hadn’t comprehended the other Shadow Laws first, I wouldn’t even be able to follow him!’

SHING! SHING! SHING!

’Go ahead, use your Shadow Movement more!’ Gravis thought. ’The more powerful you are, the more Energy it costs. Meanwhile, I’m just charging in a straight line with the Major Law of Lightning’s Speed. You’ll run out of Energy first!’

"Gravis!" someone suddenly shouted. "You have destroyed my Law Comprehension Area! Explain!"

Gravis looked over and saw an elder with white hair. According to his fluctuations, he was a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King. This was probably the Sect Master who had owned the Law Comprehension Area.

Gravis didn’t stop as he continued chasing the fluctuations of Shadow Movement. "A late Minor Circulation Immortal King has just tried to assassinate me inside your Law Comprehension Area," Gravis said as he still continued chasing, the Sect Master barely keeping up with him. "It’s not me needing to give you an explanation but you needing to give me one. How can someone like that enter your Law Comprehension Area!?"

"What!?" the Sect Master shouted with shock. "A Late Minor Circulation Immortal King? Are you sure!?"

"Yes! I’m chasing him right now! Why do you think I’m flying this fast!?" Gravis said.

"But I can’t feel anything!" the Sect Master shouted with uncertainty.

"Shadow Movement and Shadow Subtlety," Gravis answered.

The Sect Master took a deep breath. This was a terrifying combination for an assassin!

"Alright, I’ll believe you," the Sect Master said. "Someone has killed one of my disciples just recently that was on the way to comprehend the Law of Shadow Movement. This had to have been done by the assassin! Kill him!"

Then, the Sect Master stopped as Gravis continued to chase the assassin.

BANG!

Suddenly, Gravis stopped in the air. The fluctuations of Shadow Movement still appeared as they gained ground.

However, Gravis turned to the Sect Master with narrowed eyes.

The Sect Master just wanted to leave but was surprised that Gravis stopped. "Why did you stop?" he asked.

"How are you doing it?" Gravis asked, not looking away from the Sect Master.

"Do what?" the Sect Master asked.

"Using the Law of Shadow’s Movement without moving yourself," Gravis said.

The Sect Master became confused for a second but then realized what Gravis meant. "Wait, you mean I’m the assassin?" he asked with surprise and a bit of fear. "How would that even work!?"

"That’s the thing. I don’t know," Gravis said. "There was seemingly no change to the fluctuations of Shadow Movement when you appeared. It was like the assassin still continued to flee. Additionally, you look very different from the assassin."

"You are in the wrong Cultivation Realm, and you have a different weapon on your back. Lastly, you show obvious fluctuations of the Brilliance Element, while the assassin shows fluctuations of the Shadow Element."

"I’m also certain you don’t know the Major Law of the Elements. Otherwise, you would have never stayed here for so long. You would have long joined the Nine Elements Sect."

"What are you talking about!?" the Sect Master shouted. "The assassin is escaping!"

"I’m not falling for that," Gravis said as he kept looking at the Sect Master. By now, the fluctuations of Shadow Movement had left his Spirit Sense.

"You idiot!" the Sect Master shouted with rage. "He just teleported! You let him get away!"

The Sect Master was obviously distraught. After all, he was even insulting Gravis.

However, Gravis only smirked victoriously. "Thank you for dispelling the last of my doubts," he said.

"What are you talking about!? You let the guy get away!" the Sect Master shouted with accusation.

"I didn’t," Gravis said slowly. "Because he didn’t teleport away. There were no spatial fluctuations. The fluctuations of Shadow Movement just stopped, but no spatial fluctuations appeared."

The Sect Master violently ruffled his hair in anger and stress. "What are you talking about!? How would you even know that!? He teleported outside your Spirit Sense!"

Gravis only smirked.

SHING!

Silence.

The Sect Master looked at Gravis with shock. How? Why?

Why was the Sect Master shocked?

Because he looked at a different Gravis, who had just arrived with the Law of Shadow Movement.

The first Gravis gestured to the second Gravis, who bowed with politeness. "That’s how I knew," he said.

"I followed the fluctuations with my Law of Shadow’s Subtlety," the second Gravis said. "When you said that he teleported away, the Shadow Fluctuations stopped, but no Spatial Fluctuations arrived. I guess you can’t do the same trick with an actual teleportation."

The second Gravis smirked and vanished into nothingness. "Also," the first one said, "I think I know what you’re using to disguise yourself like this."

Gravis slowly flew closer. "You use the Law of Humility to restrain your Cultivation Realm. However, that Law can’t change your elemental affinity."

"However," Gravis said slowly, "The Law of Imitation can."

The Law of Imitation.

This was a rather rare Law, and Gravis had seen it once before. Back when Gravis had still been a level five Lord, he had entered the Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning.

When they had arrived there, Gravis had noticed a silver snake that had acted like they had a lightning affinity. Everyone believed them, but Gravis had been able to tell that this snake had no affinity towards lightning.

That snake had used the Law of Imitation to disguise their affinity.

The assassin, this time, knew so many assassination-related Laws already. He knew the Law of Humility, the Law of Shadow Movement, the Law of Shadow’s Subtlety, the level three Law of Danger, so why could he not also know the Law of Imitation?

"What are you talking about!?" the Sect Master shouted with rage and fear. "I’m not some kind of assassin!"

"I’m absolutely certain," Gravis said with a smirk. "There is another reason why I’m certain it’s you, but I can’t tell you. After all, if you manage to escape, one of my secrets will be revealed. Just trust me when I say that I’m certain it’s you."

"How about this?" Gravis asked. "You are the assassin, and if I’m wrong, may Heaven kill me right here, right now!"

Gravis’ voice echoed throughout the horizons with conviction.

After the echoes vanished, only silence remained.

Nothing had happened.

Finally, the Sect Master sighed. "How are you so sure that you are even willing to swear to the Heavens?" the Sect Master said, his entire aura changing.

Would Arc have killed Gravis if he were wrong?

Yes.

Arc couldn’t play favorites in that sense. Such a declaration was no joke.

Fortunately, Gravis had been correct.

By now, the Sect Master’s appearance became darker with black hair, black clothing, and black eyes. His sword was replaced with two black daggers as his aura climbed a level.

"I can’t tell you. It’s too dangerous," Gravis said.

How had Gravis been so sure?

All these things could have been orchestrated by two people, right? If they worked together, this could have also been pulled off.

However, one thing was unmistakable, and it was also something that the assassin couldn’t have protected himself against.

Control.

The Sect Master had displayed a fluctuating feeling of control. When he first appeared, the feeling of Control had been fluctuating violently, like he was going for a gamble. This showed that he hadn’t been certain that his deceit would work.

Sadly, he hadn’t had another option. If he had simply continued, he would have run out of Energy.

In the beginning, Gravis hadn’t been able to discern what this fluctuating feeling of Control meant. However, the more Gravis talked to the Sect Master, the stronger the feeling of Control became until, finally, it solidified when the Sect Master wanted to leave.

Why would the feeling of Control become so stable while the assassin was still alive?

It made no sense.

Then, while Gravis was unveiling more and more things about the Sect Master and assassin, the feeling of control started shaking again.

The assassin didn’t know the Law of Control, which meant that he couldn’t feel Control like Gravis could.

Pack!

Gravis suddenly caught something, and his eyes widened.

Gravis held two daggers in his hands, and both of them had the unique fluctuations of Avatars inside of them.

Meanwhile, the assassin groaned as all the Laws associated with his Avatar were ripped away from him.

"I want to know," he said through pain. "Take it as my last request."

Chapter 836 - 836 – Slave Ring

Gravis was really surprised about the assassin’s willingness to hand over his Avatar. While Gravis held the daggers, the assassin had no connection to his Avatar anymore, making him nearly helpless. If Gravis summoned these daggers into his Spirit Space, the Avatar would be overwhelmed by Gravis’ Spirit.

This meant that Gravis could destroy the Avatar with a mere thought.

There was absolutely no way to recover from that.

"Why did you hand over your Avatar?" Gravis asked.

"Because I can’t win," the assassin said helplessly. "I’m only good at assassinations, not in a direct conflict. All my Laws and powers revolve around assassination. Any Immortal King on my level can easily kill me in a direct confrontation."

Gravis frowned as he scratched his chin. "Then how did your Will-Aura become so powerful?" Gravis asked.

The assassin’s Will-Aura was one level above his Realm. How could an assassin train their Will-Aura without fighting someone directly?

"By targeting risky targets," he said. "For tempering, I am targeting Cultivators that can kill me easily when they survive my first strike. This, in itself, is incredibly dangerous. We didn’t directly fight, but my life has been in mortal danger all this time."

’That could actually work,’ Gravis thought. ’The feeling of danger is the important thing.’

"So, that’s why you targeted me?" Gravis asked.

The assassin nodded. "You have so many secrets and know so many Laws. Assassinating you is almost impossible. However, if I managed to succeed, my Will-Aura would become much stronger."

Gravis sighed. "Tempering and Cultivation, huh?" he uttered.

Gravis had thought that the assassin was contracted by someone. It had also been possible that he had been after his secrets and wealth.

However, it was nothing but tempering.

This made Gravis hate the assassin less, but he had still attempted to kill Gravis, and Gravis wouldn’t let something like that go.

Several seconds passed in which Gravis was just thinking.

What was there to think about?

Just kill the assassin!

However, Gravis had some plans.

What about the time Gravis went to the Core Regions? Would he just go there without any plan and look around?

No, this wasn’t like Gravis. Gravis was a planning person, and he already had a plan, a plan that would give Gravis a ton of resources and plenty of opponents.

"What’s your name?" Gravis asked.

"Siral," the assassin said.

Gravis nodded. "Are you willing to give up your freedom for survival?" Gravis asked.

Siral’s eyes widened. Gravis would not kill him?

However, Siral wasn’t sure if he was willing to serve for eternity. What was the difference between serving and death?

Gravis noticed the complex expression of Siral and nodded. If he had immediately accepted, Gravis would have lost some respect for him. The fact that he hesitated meant that Siral valued his freedom enough that it even competed with his own life.

"It won’t be forever," Gravis said. "I want to create my own, shall we say, gathering of beings. I need someone that can deal with some troublesome people."

Siral’s eyes shone when he heard that it wouldn’t be forever, but his expression became ugly again when he heard the second part. Gravis’ targets probably wouldn’t be dangerous opponents for Siral. This meant that Siral would target weaker Cultivators that wouldn’t give him tempering.

"Then there is no difference between life and death," Siral said with a sigh. "Bad things happen to people that attack weaker ones. I would simply trade this death for another one."

Gravis’ eyes shone a bit. ’So, the Cultivators in this world know that Karmic Luck exists but don’t know what it is or how it works. Interesting.’

"No, you won’t," Gravis said.

Whooop!

Something appeared in Gravis’ hand. "Because I have this," he said.

When Siral saw the ring, his breathing halted. "A Slave Ring!" he said.

"Oh?" Gravis uttered. This was his Life Ring, and Gravis was quite surprised that Siral noticed what it was. However, it had the name Slave Ring in this world, apparently.

"Why would you own something like that?" Siral said with a grimace. "If anyone sees this Slave Ring, you will be hunted down by all the Peak Sects!"

Gravis’ eyes widened. Life Rings were illegal!?

For the first time, Gravis became relieved when he thought about Liran’s and Surem’s death. They had seen the Life Ring. However, they obviously hadn’t known what it was. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have willingly entered his Life Ring.

It was true that the Life Ring could be used to implant a Slave Seal on someone, but Gravis had only used that function twice in his life, once with the Common Mushroom and once with Morus.

However, why were they illegal?

"Why are Slave Rings illegal?" Gravis asked.

Siral was surprised that Gravis owned one but didn’t know why it was bad to own one. "Because you can bring beasts right into our territory."

That was quite a good reason, but Gravis didn’t fully believe it. This reason was probably what the Peak Sects told the masses, but it was probably not the actual reason.

In the highest world, a Life Ring that was able to enslave anyone below the Star God Realm might be a somewhat expensive tool, but in this higher world, it was probably an ancestral treasure.

What did it need to create such a powerful Life Ring?

The level six Law of Space and several level five Laws of Life.

In the highest world, this Life Ring had cost Gravis 500,000 Immortal Stones, but in this world, it might even go for hundreds of millions. After all, how many of them could be here?

"Are you associated with the Life Sect?" Siral asked.

Gravis looked at Siral with furrowed brows. It was probably the Life Sect that kept all of these Life Rings. Gravis was sure that they didn’t destroy them but kept them for their own usage. They probably used these Life Rings to get specimens to study the Life Laws.

So, instead of paying a fortune to acquire one, they simply declared them illegal and confiscated them.

Power sure was useful.

"Let’s not talk about that," Gravis said. "Back to my offer. I will enslave you for 50,000 years. During this time, you will do what I want, but you will not receive any damage to your luck. After all, you won’t have your own will, and everything that you will do under my command will fall back on me. So, when you, for example, slaughter a city of mortals, I will be the one that has to bear the ethereal consequences."

"It works like that?" Siral asked with skepticism.

"It does," Gravis said with his Law of Honesty.

Siral immediately believed Gravis. However, he also knew about the three Laws of Honesty, Deceit, and Lies. Fortunately, it was already known that Gravis knew the Law of Honesty. Because of that, even the last doubts of Siral vanished.

Siral sighed. "Normally, I would agree, but there’s a problem," he said.

"What problem?" Gravis asked.

"My tribulation will arrive in 30,000 years," Siral said. "I need to become an Immortal Emperor before that, or I will die. You have seen my Battle-Strength. I’m certain that I can’t survive my tribulation."

Gravis scratched his chin. However, instead of grimacing, he smirked.

"That’s perfect, actually," he said.

"What do you mean?" Siral asked.

"Your tribulation would summon an Early Major Circulation Immortal King. That would be six levels above myself, far more than I could handle. However, when I become an Early Minor Circulation Immortal King, this would only be four levels."

"But what if you become an Early Major Circulation Immortal King? Then, your tribulation would summon a Mid Major Circulation Immortal King, which would be five levels above myself after I become an Early Minor Circulation Immortal King. That’s perfect tempering for me," Gravis said.

Siral’s mouth hung open in shock. "You would take over my tribulation for me? But then it would be your tribulation, and you would have basically thrown away nearly a hundred thousand years of longevity!"

"Having so much longevity is not a good thing for me," Gravis said. "I won’t even reach my first tribulation as an Immortal before I run out of things to do, and thanks to my Battle-Strength, only my fourth tribulation would actually be tempering for me. Throwing away a hundred thousand years would actually help me. I want tempering more than anything."

"So, how about this?" Gravis asked with a smirk. "50,000 years under me. In return, I deal with your tribulation and give you another 100,000 years. After that, you can decide to stay with me or leave. It’s up to you."

Siral took a deep breath. "It feels more like me taking advantage of you," Siral said. "Are you sure that’s what you want? After all, by ordering me to kill weaker beings, something bad might happen to you."

Something bad might happen to Gravis?

Pffft!

Gravis already had zero Karmic Luck. What was there to destroy? Gravis could slaughter every single mortal in this world, and it wouldn’t change anything. The only thing that would change would be Arc’s attitude towards Gravis.

Gravis repeated his offer again with his Law of Honesty. "This is what I want," he added near the end.

Siral took another breath as his eyes closed. After some seconds, his eyes opened again and shone with conviction.

"I agree!" he said.

PACK!

Gravis threw the daggers back to Siral. As long as the Avatar inside them hadn’t been destroyed, Siral would regain his lost knowledge.

After that, Gravis activated his Life Ring. If Siral resisted, it wouldn’t work.

However, it went over without a hitch, and Siral bowed. "Thank you, Master," he said.

This had been another test from Gravis. With his Avatar back, Siral could have tried something. Maybe he could have tried to flee or to kill Gravis while he concentrated on the Life Ring.

However, Siral didn’t resist.

Gravis nodded. "Siral, go comprehend any Laws you want until I call upon you again. You will also disguise yourself. Your old identity is dead. Right now, you are reborn as my servant. Obviously, no one is allowed to know about my Life Ring."

Siral bowed deeply. "Yes, Master," he said.

"Go!" Gravis said.

Siral bowed again, transformed into a blue-haired woman with a spear on the level of an Early Minor Circulation Immortal King, and teleported away.

Meanwhile, Gravis smirked. ’A perfect spy and perfect assassin,’ Gravis thought. ’Siral will deal with a lot of things and will bring valuable intelligence to me. Additionally, he probably knows a lot about the Core Regions. Lastly, he will even deliver me some nice tempering in about 30,000 years.’

’Having someone like this will be invaluable for me in the future.’

Gravis looked at the Life Ring and felt Siral’s fluctuations. The High-Grade Life Rings had more functions than the Mid-Grade ones. With this Life Ring, Gravis could contact Siral from anywhere in the higher world. There were even some additional commands Gravis could give. One of them was a tempering priority command. This command would disable the ability to give commands to a servant until the owner went through tempering.

After all, if someone had a ton of powerful servants, they wouldn’t be able to temper themselves anymore, right?

The highest world sure knew how to make useful artifacts.

Gravis put the Life Ring away again and teleported away.

He needed to go to a new Law Comprehension Area for Shadow’s Darkness since he had destroyed the old one.

Chapter 837 - 837 – Big Plans

Gravis quickly found another Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Shadow’s Darkness and went about comprehending his Law.

However, he quickly got interrupted by a Sect Master that appeared. This Sect Master wanted to know what had happened to the other Law Comprehension Area. After all, Gravis had never destroyed a Law Comprehension Area before. Their "cooperation" was solely based on the fact that Gravis didn’t destroy the Sect Alliance’s property.

Gravis informed the Sect Master that an assassin had attacked him and that it had been the Sect Master of the Sect that had owned the Law Comprehension Area.

After a lot of back and forth, the Sect Master decided to talk it over with the other Sect Masters. After all, one of them had become a Late Minor Circulation Immortal King without their knowledge. Additionally, the Sect Master Gravis was talking about had the Brilliance Element, not the Shadow Element.

Finally, one of the Sect Masters told them that he had known about it. Siral had been his friend.

With the addition of that Sect Master’s testimony, the Sect Alliance decided to believe Gravis.

However, their shock only increased when they realized that Gravis had been able to survive an assassination attempt from such a powerful and skilled assassin.

Over the last 13,000 years or so, new Sect Masters had come, and old ones had left. After not seeing Gravis fight for so long, a lot of them had built up feelings of indignation towards Gravis. Why was some Peak Immortal allowed to enter their property!?

However, this display of power had quietened these Sect Masters. Gravis had become far too dangerous.

It was best not to disturb the ogre.

Gravis was quickly informed of the fact that nothing would happen to him. They wanted to make sure that Gravis knew that they didn’t try to kill him.

Gravis waved the Sect Master off dismissively. He would just continue comprehending Laws and would leave at some point. The Sect Masters felt relieved when they heard Gravis’ words.

With that said, Gravis went back to comprehending Laws, and this time, no one interrupted him.

BOOOOM!

After some time, Gravis comprehended the Law of Shadow’s Darkness and quickly left for the next one.

The next Law was the Law of Shadow’s Illusion.

After spending some time in that Law Comprehension Area, Gravis comprehended this Law too.

BOOOOM!

And when Gravis comprehended it, he finally knew how Siral had been able to create these illusions of his Law of Shadow’s Movement going off when he wasn’t there.

The Law of Shadow’s Illusion allowed someone to create short-lived fake bodies, which could also use the Shadow Laws.

This shocked Gravis quite a lot.

After all, this meant that Siral knew at least three level four Laws!

Was Siral truly as weak as he told Gravis he was?

"Siral, how confident would you be with your tribulation if you were to face it alone?" Gravis asked through the Life Ring inside his Spirit Space.

"0%, Master," Siral answered.

"That low?" Gravis asked in shock. It was impossible for Siral to lie to Gravis while under the effect of the Life Ring. "Why is it that low? You already know at least three level four Laws!"

"Four, Master," Siral answered. "My Law of Humility has also reached the level of a level four Law."

’Four level four Laws is quite impressive,’ Gravis thought.

"And I’m not confident because every Major Circulation Immortal King would be from the Core Regions. They all know far more Laws than me and are more powerful. Even if they were on the same level as me, I would only have a 10% chance of victory."

Gravis scratched his chin. The Core Region sure was powerful.

"What if you could take them by surprise with an assassination attempt?" Gravis asked.

"It depends on the Sect of the enemy, Master," Siral said. "I have assassinated several Cultivators two levels above me, and I have quite a lot of confidence. However, I would fear assassinating someone from the Nine Elements Sect or the Purist Sect. The All-Matter Sect would also be a threat, but not as much as the first two."

Gravis nodded. "That’s all," he said.

"Yes, Master," Siral answered as the connection between them was cut off again.

’He only named Peak Sects as dangers,’ Gravis thought. ’This means that he has a lot of confidence when assassinating people from normal Sects. I’ve really managed to turn my luck around with Siral.’

Was being the target of such a powerful assassin good luck?

Of course not!

Being targeted by a perfect assassin four levels above oneself was about as unlucky as it could get. This was definitely the work of Gravis’ Karmic Luck, or lack thereof.

However, not only had Gravis’ Will-Aura been strengthened a little bit under this assassination, but he had also gained an incredible servant.

After Gravis dealt with Siral’s tribulation, Siral would be an Early Major Circulation Immortal King. At that point, Siral could probably deal with nearly every Major Circulation Immortal King. If someone was opposed to Gravis’ plan, he could send Siral to deal with them.

’Anyway, I’m done with the Shadow Element for now,’ Gravis thought. Then, he checked the timer again.

’3,327 years,’ Gravis thought. ’It’s getting quite long with these Elements that I have nearly no affinity for.’

Gravis also checked his answer sheets and noticed that they had not become as cruel as before. He could probably get another set done before it became dangerous, but that wouldn’t matter. Three sets were remaining, and he wouldn’t be able to get through all of them without taking a break.

The only difference was if he comprehended two or three of them after his break.

Might as well take a break now.

Gravis took out Arc’s emblem and broke it.

SHING!

Gravis appeared in front of Arc.

"Back already?" Arc asked without turning to Gravis. He was drawing lines in the dirt once again.

"Yep," Gravis said. "Hey Arc, there’s something I want to ask you. You can call it a business proposal."

"Oh?" Arc asked with a smile as he turned to Gravis. "Is this related to that assassin?"

"Kind of," Gravis said. "Allowing Siral to survive has something to do with it."

"Now I’m interested," Arc said as he sat down on a tree stump. "Tell me more."

Gravis sat down near Arc and told him about his plan.

After Gravis was done, Arc scratched his chin in thought. "It’s a good idea," Arc said. "I agree, but only if you manage to succeed. You know why I can’t agree otherwise."

Gravis nodded. "I do," he said. "I’ll do my best, and I have some confidence."

"Which Sect is your target?" Arc asked.

"The All-Matter Sect," Gravis answered.

"Hmm," Arc hummed. "Yes, I think your chances of success are the highest with them. However, it will still be really difficult. What’s your offer?"

"Future," Gravis said with a smirk.

Arc also smirked when he heard Gravis. "If it weren’t you, no one would accept. You are probably the only being in this world that can use the future as a bargaining chip."

Gravis only smirked.

He had big plans!

"Wait, what’s that?" Arc suddenly said with shock as he pointed to Gravis’ side.

Gravis turned to his side but saw nothing but forest. Then, he turned back.

"What are you-"

However, in front of Gravis was not Arc, but a class of beasts that looked at him with interest.

Gravis was perplexed for a moment but then laughed.

Arc had teleported Gravis to his class when he had been distracted.

’Well, let’s get back to teaching, I guess,’ Gravis thought.

Chapter 838 - 838 – Deep Wood

Gravis went on to teach the new students. The old ones were either dead or grown-up again. The cycle of young Cultivators and beasts moved far too quickly for Gravis.

To Gravis, it felt like after just looking away for a moment, all his old students had already grown up.

According to Gravis’ perception, no time had passed, but thousands of years had passed in reality.

The life of young beings went over so quickly.

After Gravis received a break from teaching, he went over to the current visitors.

However, this time, Gravis had more to talk about than just unimportant stuff. This time, he was informing others of his grand plans.

Initially, everyone was skeptical of Gravis’ success. After all, what he was planning was just too difficult to achieve. However, if he managed to succeed, they would all be happy to cooperate.

In the next century, Gravis had gathered many agreements from Immortals, Immortal Kings, and even two Immortal Emperors. As long as Gravis managed to pull it off, they would be happy to support him.

After all, they would also get something in return.

Of course, none of them would have agreed if Gravis hadn’t already gotten permission from Arc. Arc’s permission was integral to Gravis’ plan.

The breaks always felt far longer than the many times longer Law Comprehension sessions.

However, even long times passed eventually. The century-long break was up, and it was time to return to comprehending Laws.

Gravis returned to the Sect Alliance’s territory and went to the next Law Comprehension Area.

It was time to learn the Battle-Laws of Deep Wood!

This was the last Element that Gravis had a good affinity for. Normally, the Wood Element wouldn’t count as an element with a lot of affinity for Gravis, but thanks to his knowledge regarding the Soul Laws, Gravis had quite a good affinity for it.

The first Law Gravis comprehended was the Law of Deep Wood’s Rejuvenation.

This was simply an element-based Law that worked the same way as the level two Law of Soul Regeneration. If anyone attacked Gravis’ Spirit, he would be able to recover quickly. Gravis hadn’t fought against someone that used soul-based attacks yet, but that didn’t mean that he would never have such an opponent. It was important to be prepared for any eventuality.

The second Law was the Law of Deep Wood’s Connection.

With this Law, Gravis could create a partial connection to his opponent’s Soul without directly hitting their body. The Element of Deep Wood only attacked the enemy’s Soul when it managed to touch their body. Against beasts, this was more than enough, but against humans, this wasn’t as easy. After all, humans liked to use weapons.

However, even with this Law of Deep Wood’s Connection, only a part of Gravis’ power would be able to attack the enemy’s Spirit as long as it hit a weapon, but it was better than nothing. The Deep Wood Element became especially useful against opponents with the Earth Element. After all, they were all fighting like turtles. Using this Law multiple times against them would force them to attack Gravis, destroying their biggest advantage.

The third Law was the Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction.

Just like the first Law, this Law was an element-based version of the level two Law of Soul Dispersal. It would strengthen the destruction of the enemy’s Soul and Spirit.

The fourth Law was something that Gravis initially had had no interest in. However, with the advent of his new grand plan, this Law became relevant.

The fourth Law was the Law of Deep Wood’s Transfer.

This Law allowed Gravis to heal the Souls and Spirits of other beings by using up his own Soul.

Back then, when Gravis had kept Surem alive, he had used an unreal amount of Energy to keep Surem’s Spirit from being destroyed. However, in comparison, the person from the Life Sect easily healed Surem’s Spirit.

The main reason was that healing one’s own Spirit was far easier than healing another one’s Spirit. The person from the Life Sect had infused Surem with his own Spirit by using exactly this Law. After that, he had only needed to quickly heal his own Spirit, which wasn’t difficult at all.

So, with this Law, Gravis could now also heal even the most severe Soul-based injuries that anyone around him might receive.

Having someone that was able to heal others was integral for an organization’s survival. Oftentimes, when someone tempered themselves against a powerful opponent, they were close to death themselves. That last, tiny flame of life might be snuffed out even when the opponent had already died.

If one was in such a situation, they would die even though they had won their fight. This was such a huge waste.

Additionally, since the fight had already been won, saving their life after that wouldn’t interrupt their Will-Aura’s growth.

The last Law Gravis comprehended was the Law of Deep Wood’s Protection.

As the name implied, it was a Law that created element-based protection around one’s Soul or Spirit. Just as mentioned previously, it was important to be prepared for anything.

With that, Gravis was done with the Battle Laws for Deep Wood.

Obviously, this Element would be used for healing and for everything Soul and Spirit related.

’2,765 years,’ Gravis thought. ’Faster than the Shadow Element, but still quite slow.’

Gravis also quickly checked his answers and noticed that everything was basically fine. He hadn’t really changed at all.

Then, Gravis sighed.

’Man, I’m not looking forward to the last two,’ Gravis thought. ’I have a weak affinity for metal, and it is even worse for earth. These two will probably take longer than all previous Elements.’

Gravis looked at his timer absentmindedly. ’I already passed the age of 20,000 years. I’m basically ancient at this point. However, I somehow still feel quite young. It’s like I’m only 5,000 years old or so.’

Gravis sighed again. ’Time continues to pass, and I get older and older.’

Then, Gravis shook his head. ’Who cares!? I will get older regardless! I should just continue. As soon as I come into contact with others more, time will go back to passing very slowly.’

SHING!

Gravis teleported away and went towards the next Law Comprehension Area.

Next stop: Core, the level three Law version of the Metal Element!

Chapter 839 - 839 – Core

Gravis had big plans for the next set of Laws. These next ones would substantially increase his Battle-Strength while not needing any extra Energy usage.

The first Battle-Law of the Element of Core that Gravis wanted to comprehend was the Law of Core Manipulation.

This Law would allow Gravis to manipulate metal and its associated matter with more ease. It sounded rather simple, but this was the Law that would combine all his other Core Laws.

As always, Gravis seemingly understood this Law in no time and went directly to the next Law Comprehension Area.

The next one was the first Law that would increase Gravis’ power by a lot, the Law of Core’s Sharpness.

This Law would allow Gravis to manipulate metal and its associated matter in such a way that the cutting edge of the metal would become that much sharper.

What made this Law so special?

Gravis didn’t need to use this Law all the time.

Why not?

Because he could just use this Law on his weapon while forging to make it sharper. However, this required the Law of Core’s Manipulation first. Fortunately, Gravis had just comprehended that one before this one.

Yes, the entire concept of the Battle Laws for Core that Gravis wanted to comprehend revolved around increasing the power of his equipment. Gravis wouldn’t need to use any extra Energy while fighting since his equipment would have already been forged beforehand.

A lot of Battle Laws of the Core Element could be infused into the weapons. These Laws would make the weapons a lot more powerful, and if Gravis had known them in the highest world, he could have asked for several times more Immortal Stones for his weapons.

Weapons augmented with the Battle Laws for Core were the truly high-class weapons, except for World Weapons.

How many Forgers in the highest world knew these Laws?

The powerful Forgers all knew these Laws, but the Immortals didn’t know them. There were even nearly no Immortal King Forgers that knew these Laws.

Why?

The reason was elemental affinity. The metal element was generally not considered as a good affinity for forging. After all, one wouldn’t be able to smelt the ores themselves. One would need to use expensive equipment to smelt down the ore, and using that equipment was still very difficult.

Smelting ore with one’s own element was far easier since one had direct control over the temperature. The Cultivator could feel how intense their flame, lightning, or whatever was based on their Energy and concentration consumption.

Using an external tool made this far more difficult, especially when one needed to continually adjust the temperature to not damage the ore. Because of that, people with metal affinity rarely became forgers, and from the few that attempted to become forgers, a majority would give up. It was just too hard to control these tools.

Because of that, these kinds of high-class weapons would only become common in the Immortal Emperor Realm. By then, many Forgers had already comprehended the Major Law of the Elements, which allowed them to also use the Core Element.

So, in short, these weapons were so expensive because someone had to know these Laws and the Major Law of the Elements. One could say that these weapons were only second to World Weapons, which required the comprehension of the Law of the Dead World.

Gravis quickly comprehended the Law. With this Law, his saber would become a lot sharper. Against humans, this wouldn’t be very important since humans didn’t have a strong defense, to begin with, but against beasts, this increase in sharpness would show a tremendous effect.

The third Law Gravis comprehended was the Law of Core’s Hardness.

Just as the name implied, this Law increased the hardness and resilience of one’s equipment. The compressed edges of the weapons already increased the hardness and durability of the weapons, but the Law of Core’s Hardness would add an additional layer of protection.

This Law would finally solve a significant problem. With this Law, Gravis could finally block powerful attacks with his saber again without fear of them breaking. His fight against Samantha had been incredibly annoying since any one of her attacks directly broke Gravis’ saber.

Against beasts, this Law wouldn’t be so useful, but against humans, it was incredible. If Gravis didn’t protect his weapons against a powerful enemy’s attack, they might still break, but as long as he infused them with an element, it would be enough.

Speaking of, the fourth Law Gravis comprehended was the Law of Core’s Infusion.

This Law allowed Gravis to infuse his weapons with many different kinds of elements. Before today, Gravis’ saber had only been made to carry Punishment Lightning without an upper limit. He could infuse his saber with another element, but only to a certain degree. If he used too much on his saber, it would become damaged, which was why he had rarely done so.

For example, Gravis could now use the Law of Frost’s Concentration with the Law of Core’s Infusion to create the same technique that Samantha had used. This would allow Gravis’ physical power to be added to the power of his attack, similar to a focus.

However, this was not the only element that Gravis could use this way.

He could use the Law of Inferno’s Concentration the same way, creating a powerful fire saber. If Gravis didn’t know the Law of Core’s Infusion, his saber would quickly melt under the incredible heat.

The last Law Gravis comprehended was a peculiar one. It was peculiar even among all the other element-related Battle Laws.

It was called the Law of Core’s Destruction.

What did it do?

Well, the metal element was the antithesis to the wood element. It was about as dead as something could get. This Law made use of this antithesis.

The Law of Core’s Destruction allowed someone to increase this implicit attribute of death in metal. This gave the metal an additional, ethereal property that seemingly destroyed everything it touched.

Among mortals, there were legends of sword wielders that were so in tune with their swords that a mere gaze from them could cut a leaf in half. This Law worked similarly to these legends.

If one tried to make sense of these legends, one would say that these Cultivators were so in tune with their weapons that their being emulated the feelings and properties of a sword. A sword could cut things, and if one was one with their sword, shouldn’t they also be able to cut things?

However, legends were legends. One couldn’t just cut things by looking at them. One could probably use their Spirit to tear them apart, but just a look wouldn’t be enough.

Yet, this Law would achieve something similar. If someone dropped a leaf on a weapon made with this Law, the leaf would be cut in half before it even touched the weapon. This was the imperceptible destructive aura of metal that represented the antithesis of life. It simply destroyed by existing.

So, what did this Law accomplish?

This Law increased Gravis’ attacking power, and if the enemy’s defense or weapon came into contact with this aura several times, it would eventually break.

Breaking a Weapon Cultivator’s weapon was the same as killing them. After all, the Avatar would be destroyed by such an action.

Gravis was done with the Core Element, and from now on, all his weapons would be sharper, harder, could unleash this aura of destruction, and could be infused with all kinds of elements. Gravis’ Battle-Strength had grown more powerful yet again, and this time, there were no disadvantages to his newfound advantages.

Gravis glanced at the timer and sighed.

’3,954 years,’ Gravis thought. ’That’s a long one, the longest one yet, in fact.’

’However, I’m nearly done. I’m only missing Graphite. After that, I don’t need to look at any Law Comprehension Areas anymore. I can finally just go to some secluded mountain and comprehend some Primary Laws on my own. I wonder how many I should comprehend. All of them? There actually might not be enough time before I have to help Siral with his tribulation.’

’I still have around 21,500 years or so until Siral’s tribulation arrives. So, I should probably stop in around 20,000 years since I need to increase my Will-Aura before the tribulation. Right now, my Will-Aura is only equal to my eventual opponent, which wouldn’t be good.’

"Siral, contact me in exactly 20,000 years from now. You can do whatever you want until then," Gravis said to his Life Ring.

"Yes, Master," Siral answered.

Gravis deactivated the Life Ring again and teleported away.

Last stop: Graphite!

Chapter 840 - 840 – An Old Ability

It was time for the last set of the element-related Battle Laws. After that, Gravis would no longer come into contact with the Sect Alliance.

What were Gravis’ plans for Graphite? Defense, right?

No, that was not what Gravis had in mind. Gravis was fighting Cultivators and beasts many levels above himself. Adding some defense wouldn’t make much of a difference. When Gravis blocked an attack, he would need to use his saber or an attack of his own. Creating a dedicated defense would only waste Energy.

Back in the middle world, Gravis had used multiple shields for that purpose, and if he had the chance to use them again, he would. Sadly, resources were very scarce in this world. Sure, after looting the belongings of a hundred Sect Masters, Gravis had enough to create armor and some shields, but it hadn’t been necessary up to now. He preferred having these resources as a hard currency.

In the middle world, there had nearly been an infinite amount of ores, but here, every single piece of ore already had an owner. If Gravis wanted this ore, he would need to either trade for it or kill the owner.

Because of these reasons, Gravis didn’t try to create a set of armor or shields. In the future, when he had an overabundance of money, he would probably build one again, but not right now. Gravis’ wealth was just big enough to make him an Early Major Circulation Immortal King. Sure, that sounded powerful, but one had to remember that there was an entire Realm above that, which only became more expensive.

Gravis appeared rich right now, but everything would vanish as soon as he increased his strength.

So, since Gravis didn’t intend to use the Graphite Element as a defensive means, what did he intend to do with it?

Well, the first Law Gravis comprehended was Graphite’s Law of Gravity. This was an element-related version of gravity. One could compare the dynamic between gravity and Graphite’s gravity to the Law of Heat and the Law of Inferno’s Heat. It was simply another way to create the same thing.

Gravis’ Law of Gravity only had the power of a level three Law, making it useful, but not that useful. However, the Law of Graphite’s Gravity was a level four Law, and it would be several times stronger than Gravis’ Law of Gravity. Sadly, it cost quite a bit of Energy to use.

The next Law was the Law of Graphite’s Mass. This Law had two uses.

One of them was that it increased the power of the Law of Graphite’s Gravity, and the other use was that it increased the amount of "earth" one could create with Energy. It was similar to a Law of Efficiency. One could also say that it was the same thing as the Law of Storm’s Mass, but for everything earth-related.

The third Law was the Law of Graphite’s Efficiency. As the name implied, it simply reduced the Energy cost of everything.

If Gravis wanted to use the Law of Graphite’s Gravity on the enemy together with the Law of Frost’s Penetration and the Law of Storm’s Pressure, he needed to cut down the Energy consumption as much as possible.

However, this wasn’t the only reason why Gravis comprehended this Law.

The Laws of Efficiency and Mass both reduced Energy consumption. So, what did Gravis plan with these two Laws?

The fourth Law Gravis comprehended was the Law of Graphite’s Manipulation. This Law also had two uses.

One was the ability to move the earth around. When one thought back to the lower world, one might remember that Gravis once had this peculiar ability of Elemental Synchronicity. Back then, Gravis had the ability to swim through the earth.

With this Law, this ability returned. Gravis could ignore any kind of earth-related thing that didn’t have a will on it. This meant that Gravis could also flee into the earth or hide in it for a surprise attack.

The second ability of the Law of Graphite’s Manipulation was a heightened control over what kind of material Gravis would be able to create with his Graphite. By using Graphite, a lot of random materials would appear. After all, when Gravis had received the Virtualization Array of the Law of Graphite, a ton of random ores had been created. On top of that, they hadn’t vanished after the Virtualization Array had been deactivated.

This would all come together with the fifth and final Law Gravis would comprehend.

However, before Gravis went to the next Law Comprehension Area, Gravis fell into thought.

’Elemental Synchronicity, huh?’ he thought with a nostalgic expression. ’It’s been forever since I thought about that. I also remember that Orpheus once said that this ability would become very important in the far future.’

Gravis sighed. ’By now, I can see the effect that Elemental Synchronicity would have on me very well. Just imagine, no element without a will would be able to affect me.’

’I could enter the core of any Element in the Law Comprehension Areas without affecting it. I wouldn’t need to heal myself or be careful to not use too much Energy. My body would simply overlap with the Elements. Additionally, I would be able to feel them intimately.’

’In short, Elemental Synchronicity would boost my ability to comprehend Laws to insane levels. My affinity towards every single element would be unparalleled. All the Elements would unveil all their secrets to me in nearly an instant. I probably wouldn’t even need to temper myself to comprehend incredibly complex Laws.’

’However, that wouldn’t even be all. I could swim to the center of the world, unaffected by gravity, heat, and pressure. Back then, I was still affected by these things, but I’m pretty sure that my Elemental Synchronicity would have only become more powerful and useful with time. With it, I could have entered the core of the world, comprehending the most powerful Heat, Gravity, and Pressure Laws.’

’Even more, I could go through the deep earth and harvest as many ores as I want. Sure, the Law of Graphite’s Manipulation also gives me this ability, but when gravity, heat, and pressure get involved, it becomes far more difficult. Additionally, it costs Energy.’

’I could have probably also flown into space to comprehend the Cold Laws. Additionally, with my incredible affinity towards the Graphite Element, I would probably also have a far easier time in comprehending the Matter Laws.’

’In short, Elemental Synchronicity is an unparalleled ability for comprehending all kinds of Laws.’

Suddenly, Gravis’ eyes shone. ’However, advantages have disadvantages. Elemental Synchronicity wouldn’t directly increase my Battle-Strength. My Lightning Crescent also wouldn’t exist. Even more, without my affinity for lightning, the lower Heaven would have killed me.’

Gravis’ fight against the lower Heaven hadn’t appeared as dangerous, but one had to remember that Gravis inherently countered the lower Heaven’s strongest weapon. Elemental Synchronicity could only be used with elements that didn’t have a will on them.

So, what would have happened if Gravis hadn’t become one with lightning?

The lower Heaven would have unleashed a bolt of Punishment Lightning. That was a level three Law, and it would have been used in a world where the concept of Laws didn’t even exist. If Gravis hadn’t had his affinity for lightning, he would have died 100%. There was no question about it.

Even in the middle world, this held true. After Gravis swallowed the middle Heaven’s Avatar, it had lost all the Laws associated with the Law of the Dead World. However, its Divine Lightning hadn’t been included in that. What could Gravis have done against a bolt of Divine Lightning? The destruction of the middle Heaven’s Avatar wouldn’t have made a difference.

Additionally, no matter how many Laws Gravis knew, Gravis’ affinity towards lightning held an inherent advantage in battle. Gravis’ Energy storage was far greater than anyone else’s on his level since he didn’t need to convert Energy into lightning. He already had the lightning.

’Well, I still think my choice was the correct one,’ Gravis thought. ’Yes, Elemental Synchronicity is useful, but I still prefer my current set of abilities, even if I have a huge issue with my lightning right now.’

’Anyway, I should get to the last Law.’

Gravis went to the last Law Comprehension Area, the Law Comprehension Area for the Law of Graphite’s Creation.

This was the Law that tied everything together.

This Law would allow Gravis to create a ton of materials. The Laws of Graphite’s Mass, Manipulation, and Efficiency had all been comprehended for this Law.

This Law would help Gravis in comprehending the Matter Laws, and it would also help Gravis in creating wealth. Sure, the slow creation of ores took a ton of Energy and time, but Gravis would create these ores anyway. After all, he needed to create these ores to understand the Medium Pure Law.

Also, if Gravis ever ran out of money, he could spend some time gathering resources for his weapons. Being without a weapon was far too dangerous.

Just like all the previous Laws, Gravis comprehended this Law in seemingly no time.

BOOOOM!

’And with that, I’m done,’ Gravis thought. After that, he looked at the timer and took a deep breath.

’8,721 years!’ Gravis thought with shock. ’My affinity towards Graphite is truly trash!’

Gravis released a deep sigh when he thought about how much time he had just spent in comprehension. This was insanely long!

’Fortunately, I’m done with the Graphite Element,’ Gravis thought. ’Now, only the Primary Laws remain. I still have about 12,000 years before Siral contacts me. 12,000 years sounds like a good amount of time to comprehend some Laws. I’m not sure if I will use all of it, but I will definitely use most of it.’

’Anyway, one last thing to do.’

Gravis looked at the Law Comprehension Area and saw a disciple.

"Please call over your Sect Master," Gravis said.