Ch. 881..890

Chapter 881 - 881 – Mortis Meets Arc

Gravis and Mortis absorbed a ridiculous amount of Immortal Stones in a couple of hours until they finally reached the Early Major Circulation Immortal King Realm.

"Congratulations, Master," Siral said with respect as he felt Gravis’ power reach the same level as himself.

"Thanks, Siral," Gravis said without thinking about it. Thanking someone was just a habit that a normal human had.

Gravis had now long left the powers of the Sect Alliance behind. Even if Gravis had an incredibly weak Battle-Strength, just his Realm alone would allow him to eradicate the entire Sect Alliance.

Now, Gravis was on the power level of some actual bigshots in the High-Tier Sects, the ones that actually lived in the Core Region. Gravis’ Realm was also already high enough that it probably allowed him to join a Peak Sect without any evaluation for his talent or Battle-Strength.

Major Circulation Immortal Kings were valuable soldiers in every kind of Sect, including Peak Sects.

However, Gravis didn’t intend to join any Peak Sect.

Why would he?

There were five things that a Sect could offer a Cultivator.

First, a home.

Gravis didn’t really see anything in this world as his home. Gravis had already gotten used to the insane speed at which time was progressing. In the middle world, Gravis had had a huge issue with the identity of his home, but not anymore.

Gravis had spent over a thousand years in the highest world, and Opposer City had been solidified as his home.

Because of that, Gravis didn’t need a temporary home. Sure, it would be great to have a temporary one, but it wasn’t that important anymore.

The second thing that a Sect could give a Cultivator was safety.

In a world where everyone vied for tempering and resources, having a stable home and being able to protect oneself with one’s background was very useful. The outside world was scary and brutal, and one needed a break from time to time.

However, this wasn’t important to Gravis.

Gravis’ Battle-Strength was so powerful that only Immortal Emperors could kill him.

Yet, what Immortal Emperor would be interested in an Early Major Circulation Immortal King?

How many of those were even walking around?

All of these Immortal Emperors were busy with protecting and managing their own powers. They couldn’t just run around and hunt for some Immortal Kings.

So, Gravis also didn’t need the safety aspect that Sects could grant Cultivators.

The third thing that a Sect could give a Cultivator was resources.

Sects offered all kinds of missions, requests, and opportunities that gave members of the Sect a ton of resources.

Gravis also needed resources desperately, but joining a Sect wouldn’t be optimal if he wanted to truly concentrate on Cultivation.

A lot of these missions required a long time to complete and work. Maybe Gravis would need to work for over a thousand years to get enough Immortal Stones to reach the next level. In that time, Gravis could concentrate on his Laws.

Why spend so much time gathering resources?

Gravis’ grand plan would give him all the resources he needed.

The fourth thing a Sect could give a Cultivator was Laws.

This was the big hitter. This reason was probably 70% of the reason why anyone would join a Sect.

Laws were everything, and all the powerful Sects only allowed their own disciples to comprehend Laws in their Law Comprehension Areas. Although, someone outside the Sect could probably also comprehend the Laws as long as they were willing to spend a huge sum of money.

As a human, it was unavoidable to join a Sect if someone wanted to comprehend the good Laws.

However, Gravis wasn’t bound by this.

If Gravis wanted to comprehend some Laws, he could simply go to the beast territory. Gravis was certain that he could purchase time to comprehend Laws just by joining a quick but dangerous battle. This wouldn’t take nearly as much time as working for a Sect.

The last thing that Sects could give a Cultivator was techniques.

Weapon Techniques were powerful, and all of them were owned by Sects.

However, Gravis wasn’t interested in any of these techniques.

His Laws were abnormal, and he didn’t even have Energy. He only had this weird new form of lightning.

Gravis would create his own Weapon Techniques.

So, in short, Gravis had no reason to join any Sect.

Instead, he would do something different, but that was something for the future.

’First, I should talk to Arc and check if I can finally cultivate Weapon Techniques,’ Gravis thought.

"What are you waiting for?" Mortis asked coldly.

"Yes, yes, don’t be impatient," Gravis said as he took out Arc’s emblem.

"Siral, we will be gone for a couple of years, but not many. You can do whatever you want during that time," Gravis said.

"Yes, Master," Siral said.

Then, he teleported away.

When Siral was gone, Mortis turned into lightning and shot into Gravis’ body.

Gravis could absorb lightning, and Mortis was lightning. Therefore, Gravis could absorb Mortis.

However, Mortis was still in control of himself as long as Gravis didn’t eradicate the will on his Avatar. Of course, Gravis wouldn’t do something like that.

Gravis broke Arc’s emblem and quickly arrived at Arc’s clearing.

Gravis opened his eyes and saw Arc just casually sitting near the lake. For once, Arc wasn’t playing one of his jokes on him.

BZZZ!

Mortis left Gravis’ body and also looked at Arc. Mortis always had a cold look on his face, but Gravis noticed that Mortis respected and liked Arc.

Arc had helped Gravis multiple times, and the fairness-driven Mortis appreciated something like that.

"Have we met before or not?" Arc asked Mortis with a smile. "What do you think?"

"No," Mortis said. "I have only existed for a couple of hours, so we haven’t met. The memories I have inherited are not my own."

"Did you want to meet me?" Arc asked.

Mortis furrowed his brows. He wasn’t sure why Arc was asking that.

"Yes," Mortis said.

"Why?" Arc asked.

"Because I owe a debt to you," Mortis said.

"But we haven’t met before," Arc said.

Mortis narrowed his eyes as his mind began racing.

Was he indebted to Arc?

Obviously!

Arc had helped Gravis immensely, and if he hadn’t helped Gravis comprehend the Law of Safety, Gravis wouldn’t have comprehended the Law of Perceived Reality that early, and without that Law, Mortis wouldn’t exist.

"You are a contributor to my existence," Mortis said.

"Would you also feel indebted to the abusive ex-lover of your mother because his actions drove her to flee to a different place where she met your father? Hypothetically speaking," Arc said with a smirk.

"No," Mortis said. "The intent behind their action is different."

"And what was my intent?" Arc asked.

Mortis didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, his brows furrowed as he scratched his chin.

"Because you wanted to," he said.

"Exactly," Arc said. "You are putting a lot of emphasis on the action someone has taken when thinking about a debt. You believe that the actions are more important than the intent behind them."

"However, when I asked you about the hypothetical, you said that the intention was different."

"Yet, now, I also said that I had no intention to create you. It was simply something I wanted to do, and Gravis was the one that created you."

"In short, I never had any intention to help you, and I only helped Gravis with something that had nothing to do with you. So, why feel indebted to me? We never met before, after all," Arc said with a smile.

Mortis didn’t react as he continued scratching his chin, looking down at the ground with intense concentration.

It didn’t look like it, but Mortis had a major conflict of ideology in his mind right now.

He felt incredibly indebted to Arc, but Arc’s arguments were solid and logical. He couldn’t really argue against them.

Sure, Mortis could say that he would feel indebted regardless. After all, without Arc, Mortis wouldn’t exist.

However, if Mortis considered such an action a debt, wouldn’t he be in debt to way too many people?

All the people who helped Gravis along his journey had indirectly contributed to Mortis’ creation.

Was Mortis supposed to feel indebted to every single one of them?

That felt idiotic.

Arc hadn’t contributed much more than anyone else in Gravis’ life to Mortis’ creation, but Mortis felt indebted to him.

However, Mortis’ fairness-focused mindset told him that if he were indebted to Arc, he would also be indebted to a ton of other people.

This created a huge clash in his mind right now.

Suddenly, a cold light appeared in Mortis’ eyes.

SHING!

"Ah, fuck!" Gravis shouted as he jumped back.

Mortis had just cut off Gravis’ left leg.

"Chill out, dude!" Gravis shouted with annoyance. "I only wanted to kick you to the side as a joke! You looked so troubled that I thought a practical joke would lighten the mood! You didn’t have to cut my fucking leg off, you fucking asshole!"

Mortis looked at Gravis with cold eyes. "Don’t try to play pranks on me. I am always on my guard, even when everything appears safe. I would suggest searching for an easier target. I’m not as relaxed as you, who constantly lets down his guard when he feels like he’s safe."

Arc broke into laughter as he watched Gravis fail to pull a prank on Mortis.

Mortis put his saber away again as he looked at Gravis with an even look. Everyone else would think that Mortis was angry at Gravis, but those who had known Gravis in the lower world closely would realize that Mortis had actually relaxed a lot.

"It doesn’t matter if you failed or not," Mortis said slowly. "Your action has helped me to regain some clarity. So, thank you for that, and sorry for cutting off your leg, Gravis."

Gravis had already healed his leg.

He didn’t get his satisfaction of seeing Mortis fall to the ground, but he had helped Mortis.

That was something, right?

"First, you cut off my leg, and then you say thanks," Gravis said without amusement.

"Was I really such a psycho back then?"

Chapter 882 - 882 – Past And Future

Mortis didn’t react to Gravis’ comment as he teleported away.

He wanted to think on his own for a while.

Mortis was incredibly powerful, and his affinity for power was insane. When it came to the pursuit of power, Mortis was probably even superior to Gravis.

However, Mortis’ personality was too black and white.

In his mind, there were only the neutral ones, the ones that he considered enemies, and the ones he considered friends. There was no nuance to his categorization of other beings.

Because of that, Mortis’ mindset could easily be shaken as soon as something appeared that he couldn’t put into any of these categories.

Gravis had also thought about Arc’s words. After all, such a topic also interested him.

However, Gravis saw no issue.

So what?

If he were in Mortis’ shoes, he would simply look at Arc with a more favorable expression, but that was it. There would be no debt or anything.

Arc’s words didn’t impact Gravis at all, even though they had forced Mortis to retreat into thinking.

This showed the difference in the strengths of their personalities.

"That guy needs to pull that stick out of his ass," Gravis commented. "He’s always so tense and serious."

"That’s his choice, though," Arc said. "Right?"

Gravis nodded. "Obviously. He now has his own freedom."

Arc also nodded. "And that’s why I have said what I have said. Mortis’ personality suppresses himself, and showing him the conflict inside his own personality may help him to grow."

"Thanks," Gravis said with a smile. "Even though I’ve had an intense disagreement with Mortis’ personality in the past, he’s still a part of me, and I want that part to also be happy. I can’t force him to follow my path, and I also don’t want to, but if I can help him, I will."

"That’s also why Mortis is fine with his current circumstance," Arc said. "Obviously, he is not truly free yet. You two are still intrinsically connected, and you are also in a more powerful position. Would you accept to be in this position?"

Gravis frowned. "Difficult."

"Exactly," Arc said with a smile. "However, he knows you very well and also knows how you think. He knows that he can trust you with his life, which is why he is willing to be in the weaker position. He knows that you will do your best to help him become truly free."

Gravis rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Why does that make it sound like he’s an angry teenager while I’m his dad?"

Arc laughed a bit. "You kind of are. Mortis is very powerful, but he isn’t truly emotionally mature. His mindset could be shaken by just some careless words of mine, which demonstrates that fact."

"His personality is very in tune with lightning, but lightning is only one of the elements. Never stepping a foot out of your home doesn’t allow you to grow as a person. You might become an incredibly powerful Cultivator, but in your head, you would still be a teenager," Arc said.

"Even if Mortis doesn’t realize it yet, you will automatically become the one that will make most decisions," Arc said. "Your mindset is far more accommodating and flexible than Mortis’ without being unstable."

Gravis sighed. "That sounds like responsibility," Gravis said.

"Are you unwilling?" Arc asked with a smirk.

Gravis smiled. "Of course not!" Gravis said. "If it helps Mortis, I’m willing to take on this small bit of responsibility."

Some seconds of silence passed.

"Gravis," Arc said. "You made the right choice."

Gravis looked in the direction Mortis left. Then, he turned back to Arc. "Yes, I think this was the correct one."

"What do you think? What’s the opinion of your father and my creator on this solution?" Arc asked.

Gravis furrowed his brows.

"I’m not sure," Gravis said. "I can make a guess about my father, but I can’t guess the highest Heaven’s intentions."

"What do you think is your father’s opinion?" Arc asked.

Gravis sighed. "I would like to think that my father would support me and that he would say that any action that doesn’t result in my death is the correct one."

"However, this isn’t so simple."

"This was not something that ends with just this decision. Instead, this decision might have solidified my death in the future."

"How so?" Arc asked with an interested smile.

"I have never seen my father use an Element in battle, and I have also never heard about him using one," Gravis said. "He always fought directly with his saber. This means that there could be a possibility that using the Elements against the highest Heaven doesn’t work very well."

"It might even be possible that the highest Heaven has supreme control over all the Elements."

Gravis sighed again. "So, even if I don’t want to admit it..."

"It’s possible that Mortis might become the very person that kills me in the future."

"My father might have noticed something like this. He would still tell me that whatever I decide is the correct choice, but it’s also possible that he believes that it would have been better if I abandoned all lightning," Gravis said heavily.

"And if that were true, and you knew for certain that your father would think that your decision was wrong, would you change it?" Arc asked.

"No," Gravis said without hesitation. "I am free, and I decide what I want. I am no longer a child, and I can make my own decisions, even if my close ones don’t approve of them."

"What if Mortis will truly be your death in the future?" Arc asked.

Gravis looked again in the direction Mortis left in. His eyes were heavy as he narrowed his eyes.

"If Mortis will truly kill me in the future, it only means that I have not been powerful enough."

"However, it’s not about if he will kill me or not, but if he will attack me or not," Gravis said coldly.

"I like Mortis, and I only want the best for him, but..."

A cold gleam appeared in Gravis’ eyes.

"If he wants to stand against me in the future, I will eradicate my past to make way for my future," Gravis said with conviction.

Silence.

"Want to know what my creator thinks about your solution?"

Gravis looked at Arc.

Chapter 883 - 883 – What About Highest Heaven?

"Neutral," Arc said.

"So, neither good nor bad," Gravis answered.

Arc nodded. "It isn’t the worst case, but also not the best case for him," Arc said.

Gravis furrowed his brows as he looked to the ground. "This means that there might really be something that the highest Heaven can do against Elements. It’s possible that Mortis will be useless against the highest Heaven."

"Possible," Arc said.

"However, if that is true, I dodged a bullet," Gravis said. "I specifically traveled the path of lightning to fight the highest Heaven in the future. I believed that countering its strongest Element would give me the best shot."

"And it’s true. The path of lightning has allowed me to kill the lower Heaven, and it also gave me a chance against the middle Heaven, even if that chance was minuscule. It will also protect me against your Lightning Laws in the future, and it should also protect me against the highest Heaven’s Lightning Laws in the future."

"However, following the lightning path and being lightning are two different things. If I had remained as I was, I might have been helpless against the highest Heaven."

Gravis looked towards the horizon. "No wonder the highest Heaven always supported me as soon as my Spirit became attuned to lightning."

"I was never a danger to it, even if I would have reached my father’s level in the future."

Arc smiled. "But that has changed, hasn’t it?"

Gravis nodded. "Yes. I am no longer comprised of any Laws that the highest Heaven has created. I am now made up of something completely new. Yet, I still retain my ability to absorb all kinds of lightning."

"Now, if I become as powerful as father in the future, I will actually be a danger."

"Yet," Gravis said as he furrowed his brows. "What appears to be the best solution for me is only neutral for the highest Heaven. This means that it might use Mortis against me in the future, and if Mortis and I fight, there is a high chance that we will both die. In that sense, I would still not be a danger to it."

"Are you dead set on fighting my creator?" Arc asked.

"No," Gravis directly answered. "I am going through all these eventualities just to be safe. I have forgiven the highest Heaven for what it has done to my childhood friend back then, and it hasn’t gone against me ever since. As long as it doesn’t go against me, I have no reason to fight it."

"However, this is the status quo for now. If nothing changes, everything will be fine, but I’m nearly certain that the highest Heaven will try something in the future. I don’t believe that someone that kept my father suppressed for 50 billion years would just allow me to become powerful enough to oppose it. Something like that doesn’t seem to fit its personality."

"So, in short, as long as my creator doesn’t become the aggressor, you won’t fight," Arc said.

Gravis nodded.

"So, you’re ready to die?" Arc asked with a bitter smile.

Gravis looked with furrowed brows at Arc. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think you’re able to survive if my creator actually makes a move on you?" Arc asked. "Do you think he will strike as long as he is not 100% sure that you will die?"

Gravis took a deep breath. "Probably not," he said. "If the highest Heaven makes its move, I will probably die."

"Then, what will you do?" Arc asked.

"I can only prepare myself for every eventuality," Gravis said. "I can only rely on my father as long as I’m not on his level yet. If it decides to strike early, he is the only one that can resist it. However, when I’m on my father’s level, everything will change."

"When will he strike?" Arc asked with interest.

"I don’t know," Gravis said.

"Will he strike?"

"Honestly, I also don’t know," Gravis said. "No one is able to see through the highest Heaven’s personality. Even my father can’t foresee its actions. There is even a possibility that it might actually just want me to become powerful."

"There’s a possibility that it will let me grow and do whatever I want. It knows that I won’t go against it as long as it doesn’t go against me. Not going against me is also a form of protection for itself. It could let me grow and then just forever ignore me like I don’t exist, and I won’t come into conflict with it."

"Like that, the current status quo will continue. It will be the highest Heaven versus my father. I would be a neutral party in all of this," Gravis said.

"Difficult, huh?" Arc asked with a smile.

"It really is difficult," Gravis said. "I managed to gauge the personalities of the three Heavens I came into contact with pretty quickly, but I still have no idea what the highest Heaven is actually thinking."

"Is it someone that chases control and wants to suppress everything that is a danger to it? Possible."

"Is it someone that is stuck in a shitty situation because someone that it ignored has become so powerful that they can kill it, and it only wants to survive? Possible."

"Is it someone who values justice and only goes against those that goes against it? Also possible."

"I honestly have no idea. I can’t even trust father when he talks about the highest Heaven since he is biased for obvious reasons. It’s really difficult."

"That’s all I wanted to hear," Arc said with a smile.

"What exactly?" Gravis asked.

"I wanted to make sure that you don’t jump to conclusions," Arc said. "Keep every possibility in your mind and try to ready yourself for every possibility."

"Because there is a high chance that if you concentrate on one possibility, my creator will do something completely different just to throw you off. He’s the smartest being in existence, and he basically knows everything. Trying to scheme against him is impossible. The only thing you can do is prepare yourself against every eventuality," Arc explained.

Gravis nodded. "I will. Thanks, Arc."

Arc only smiled without saying anything.

"By the way," Gravis added as he remembered something. "How did you come up with the idea to use Yi Lu?"

"Oh, that?" Arc asked with a smirk. "It’s actually rather simple. Want to know how I went about finding you an opponent?"

Gravis became interested. "Sure."

"First, I checked through all the candidates that could theoretically arrive at your location without violently changing their actions. There were a couple, but I chose Eran. Want to know why?"

Gravis nodded. "Yes, please."

"Because you haven’t fought a powerful Space Cultivator before."

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise. "That’s it?"

"Yeah, that’s it," Arc said with a smirk. "I wanted to give you a new kind of opponent."

Gravis nodded.

"Anyway, after I decided on your opponent, I needed to find a way for you or Siral to kill his granddaughter. However, you guys have no reason to kill her. After all, she’s too weak. So, I needed to introduce someone close that you would want to save."

"That’s when you thought of Yi Lu?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded. "His personality is quite compatible with yours, which makes him very incompatible with the Sect Congregation. The Sect Congregation is like the Sect Alliance. They are all about respect, schemes, politics, rules, and so on."

"So, in the end, I only needed to allow Yi Lu to become powerful enough to kill the son of the granddaughter of Eran. That’s it."

"You make it sound so simple," Gravis said. "However, from my point of view, it sounds like you went through a ton of gambles. How could you guarantee that everything would come to pass just how you planned it?"

"Gravis," Arc said with a smile. "I’ve been doing this for quite some time. After a while, you just have a feeling for if a plan works or not. When you flip a coin, it’s a gamble, but if you can perfectly calculate the wind, air resistance, the force of the flip, and so on, it’s not a gamble anymore."

"Don’t forget that I know the Law of the True World. I know what every human in this world will do years in advance."

Instead of being impressed, Gravis only smirked. "Except me, right?"

Arc smiled bitterly. "Yes, except you. Your entire being is outside my scope of understanding."

Gravis chuckled a bit. Not even the Black Magnate had been able to foresee Gravis’ actions, and the Black Magnate knew the most powerful version of the Law of the True World.

Arc was incredibly powerful, but even he didn’t count for anything in front of the Black Magnate.

Chapter 884 - 884 – Focus

Gravis and Arc talked for a couple of hours more until Gravis decided that he should get to Weapon Cultivation.

His lightning was no longer comprised of any Laws, which meant that it could accommodate everything. So, theoretically, Gravis should now be able to use Weapon Cultivation.

Mortis wasn’t inside Gravis’ Spirit Sense range, but that didn’t matter. Mortis was Gravis’ Avatar, and Gravis could always feel where Mortis was. He could even communicate with him from any distance.

Gravis left Arc’s clearing and went to an isolated place where no one else was. Arc’s clearing was gigantic, but in front of the size of the entire world, it was nothing. However, there was still a lot of space for Gravis to go where no one could interact with him.

Gravis arrived near a tree in the forest and sat down. Most of the trees had no Cultivation. They were only normal trees.

SHING!

Gravis retrieved a saber and began thinking as he looked at it.

’I should be able to use Weapon Techniques now, and I should also be able to create a Focus. So, let’s try.’

Gravis thought back to the time he had created his first Focus and tried using it. However, this Focus was based on Punishment Lightning, not on Energy or Gravis’ new form of lightning.

This meant Gravis had to start anew.

BZZZ!

Gravis summoned his lightning and looked at it. He knew all its properties, but he hadn’t actually seen it before.

It was black.

When it came to paint, black was a mixture of all colors, but when it came to light, black was the absence of colors. His lightning was completely empty. There was nothing in it except for a weird composition of Energy.

Gravis looked at his black lightning for a while as he studied it.

’What kind of lightning is it? Is it even lightning?’ Gravis asked himself.

This kind of lightning had never been seen before in the Cosmos, which meant that it didn’t have a name.

’I should give it a name. Calling it lightning without any Law sounds weird.’

Gravis inspected his lightning some more to come up with a name.

’Let’s call it Void Lightning. After all, void means that there is nothing, and there is nothing in my lightning. So, Void Lightning sounds appropriate.’

’First of all, I need to see how powerful my Void Lightning is and what it can do.’

Gravis pointed at the mortal tree beside him.

BZZZZ!

A black lightning bolt left Gravis and hit the tree.

Nothing.

Silence.

’It has no offensive power,’ Gravis thought. ’It’s the same as if I just shoot Energy forward.’

’However, there is one difference. My Void Lightning is faster than Energy. My Void Lightning has lost all the properties of lightning except for speed.’

Gravis looked at his Void Lightning with a complex expression.

’Then, doesn’t that make it a better form of Energy? After all, it can do everything that Energy can, but it is also faster.’

Gravis scratched the back of his head. ’This sounds too good to be true. Usually, advantages have disadvantages and vice versa, but I actually can’t find a disadvantage. It just feels like a better form of Energy without any additional weakness. It even allows me to absorb other lightning.’

’There has to be something bad about it! I refuse to believe that Void Lightning has no weakness!’

Gravis experimented with his Void Lightning some time, but he just couldn’t find a weakness. It was just like Energy, but faster.

Even the regeneration of Gravis’ Void Lightning was faster. Instead of slowly being compressed like Energy, it simply consumed the Energy with fast speeds, pulling in more Energy from the surroundings.’

BANG!

Gravis used the Law of Divine Lightning and shot at the ground before him. A small hole was created since Gravis used nearly no Energy.

’It even transforms into Divine Lightning instantaneously,’ Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. ’There is no loss in Energy.’

BANG!

Gravis transformed his Void Lightning into Inferno and shot a small beam of fire at the ground in front of him.

Gravis’ eyes widened when he saw this.

’I knew it!’ he thought.

CRRR!

Gravis created some metal in front of him, and his suspicions were confirmed.

’My Void Lightning can easily transform into other kinds of lightning since it is a form of lightning, but as soon as I infuse it with different Elements, it has issues in transforming. Even if my Void Lightning is exactly like Energy, it is still biased towards lightning.’

’When I transformed my Void Lightning into Inferno just now, I felt that far more Energy has been used. It would take about 1.5 times the amount of Energy than normal if I used it with any other Element.’

Gravis’ expression became complex. ’However, there’s something else. Can that actually be true? I need to test it.’

Gravis pointed towards the lake with his finger.

BANG!

A spear of Graphite shot out of Gravis’ finger and punched through the lake.

Gravis didn’t think for several seconds as he only looked at the place where the spear had hit the water.

’What the fuck!?’ Gravis thought. ’How is that a disadvantage!?’

Creating the Graphite spear had taken far more Energy than normal, but the Graphite spear was also very different from normal.

The Graphite spear had shot into the lake with the speed of lightning.

’No wonder it costs more Energy to use other Elements,’ Gravis thought as he furiously scratched his chin. ’My Void Lightning isn’t adapting itself to the Element, but the Element is adapting itself to my Void Lightning!’

’The transformed Element retains the properties of the Element, except for the speed component. Instead, the speed component will always come from the Void Lightning.’

’Also, I think there’s something else.’

BRRRR!

Gravis summoned some Inferno, but instead of shooting it forward, he only looked at it.

White fire was burning on Gravis’ finger. However, it didn’t exactly look like fire.

The Inferno mainly contained itself in a straight shape, but it also warped from time to time.

’Sure enough,’ Gravis thought.

In short, this was Inferno in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Gravis summoned a lot of other Elements and noticed that all the other ones were also in the shape of lightning.

The hard Elements like Frost, Graphite, and Core continually warped like they weren’t actually hard. They acted exactly like lightning.

’If Inferno doesn’t have all the properties of Inferno, is it actually Inferno?’ Gravis thought.

’Are these still the Laws of the world? Why does it feel like they have been changed?’

Suddenly, Gravis’ eyes widened.

’Wait, if they are not the normal Laws, but changed Laws, doesn’t it mean that they are new Laws?’ Gravis thought as he looked at the different Elements.

’Then, if they are new Laws, doesn’t that mean that they are my Laws, Laws that I have created?’

Gravis blinked a couple of times.

’Isn’t that just like a Focus? A Focus is a self-created Law that allows someone to combine existing Laws in such a way that their strength increases, creating something new.’

’Does this mean that my Void Lightning is intrinsically already acting as a Focus?’

Chapter 885 - 885 – Experiments

’Wait, wait, wait!’ Gravis thought. ’Then, do I actually need a Focus? Don’t I already have a Focus?’

Gravis looked at all the different Elements in the form of lightning with a stunned expression.

’I mean, my Void Lightning is logically a Law that I have created myself. However, it exists in actual reality. After all, even in its pure form, it can interact with the world without any issues. Normally, a Focus can only dwell in the body of the user, but my Void Lightning can actually exist outside of it.’

’I need to test this!’ Gravis thought.

Gravis experimented with many different Laws, and he found out some interesting things.

If Gravis created something physical, like any of the Elements, they would have the speed attribute of his Void Lightning.

However, if Gravis created something that changed the attributes of something physical, like heat and cold, it didn’t have the speed attribute of lightning. After all, heat and cold didn’t really move. It was just a change of something that was already there.

Sadly, it still took more Energy than normal to create domains of heat and cold.

’So, if I use something like Storm’s Pressure, Frost’s Cold, or Infernos’ Heat, I simply need to use more Energy without any positive gain. This means that, in a sense, my Focus, which is my Void Lightning, can only show its true power as a physical attack.’

Gravis scratched his chin.

’Additionally, if I want to use an Element to defend myself, like my Magma or Graphite, it will also cost more Energy without anything positive added. After all, speed is irrelevant when I can instantaneously summon a wall right in front of me.’

’Now, I can finally see the weakness of my Void Lightning. Its weakness is that I can’t fight without using it. Normally, a Cultivator can choose to use their Focus or not. No normal Cultivator would use their Focus for defense or for heat and cold unless their Focus is specialized in that aspect. This allows them to continue using the normal Laws if necessary.’

’However, I am stuck using my Void Lightning, which is my Focus, if I want to or not. I can exclusively only fight with these new Laws.’

Gravis furrowed his brows. ’So, in short, I gave up part of my flexibility and adaptability in exchange for a stronger offense. That means I have to change my fighting style again.’

Gravis sighed.

’Seems like my fighting style will, to some extent, revert to the time before I comprehended the different Elements. Offense and speed will be my greatest strengths.’

’However, I think I got more positives than negatives out of this exchange. Fighting for a long period of time will be harder than before, but my increased offensive capabilities ensure that my fights will be shorter.’

’Yet, there is still one question remaining.’

Gravis summoned some Void Lightning and shot it into the distance.

Then, Gravis summoned some Divine Lightning and shot it into the distance.

The Divine Lightning was faster than the Void Lightning.

’My Void Lightning is faster than Punishment Lightning but slower than Divine Lightning. My Punishment Lightning has the power of a level four Law due to the Major Law of the Elements. My Divine Lightning is a level six Law. So, the speed of my Void Lightning should be as fast as a level five Lightning Law.’

’Now, the question is: Will it stay that way?’ Gravis thought with furrowed brows. ’It’s a self-created Law, which means that there currently doesn’t exist a more powerful version of it. Yet, was it a coincidence that it exactly assumed the power of a level five Law while I am an Immortal King? How do Focuses become more powerful?’

’Focuses need to have growth potential. Otherwise, they couldn’t be used when someone becomes far stronger. This means that my Void Lightning must also have a way to grow more powerful.’

Gravis leaned back as he scratched his chin. ’The Immortal King Realm is generally associated with level five Laws. I am an Immortal King, and my Void Lightning has the power of a level five Law. Is it related to my Cultivation Realm?’

’Let’s try.’

BZZZ!

A second Gravis appeared. Gravis could still use his Lightning Fork to create split bodies. This second Gravis was exactly one Major Realm lower than the main Gravis.

Both Gravises pointed at the horizon and shot Void Lightning into the distance.

BZZZZ!

The eyes of both Gravises lighted up.

’I knew it!’ Gravis thought as the second Gravis got reabsorbed. ’The speed of my Void Lightning is related to my Cultivation Realm!’

’The speed of the Void Lightning of my copy was about as fast as my Punishment Lightning, which has the power of a level four Law. However, it was a bit faster.’

Gravis used his Punishment Lightning and Divine Lightning again and compared the speed. After that, he searched for the middle-point between them.

However, finding the middle point was not easy. The middle point, ironically, was not at the middle. The power of Laws didn’t increase proportionally but exponentially.

If a level four Law had a speed value of one and a level six Law had the speed value of 16, it didn’t mean that a level five Law would have a speed value of eight. No, the level five Law would have the speed value of four. After all, four is four times as big as one, and 16 is four times as big as four.

Gravis created two copies, one at the Early Minor Circulation Immortal Realm and one at the Early Minor Circulation Immortal King Realm.

All three Gravises pointed at the horizon. The two copies used Void Lightning, while the main Gravis used Punishment Lightning.

BZZZZ!

What was the result?

The Punishment Lightning was just as fast as the Void Lightning of the Gravis in the Early Minor Circulation Immortal Realm, while the last Void Lightning bolt was way faster.

The two copies vanished as Gravis looked with intensity at the horizon.

’At the beginning of a new Major Realm, my Void Lightning will reach the speed of the next Law Level. This means that the Void Lightning of my Early Minor Circulation Immortal King version is just as fast as a level five Lightning Law. Meanwhile, I am in the Early Major Circulation Immortal King Realm. This means that my Void Lightning is already faster than a level five Lightning Law, but slower than a level six Lightning Law.’

Gravis furiously scratched his chin.

’Doesn’t that mean that as soon as I reach the Mid Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm, my Void Lightning will be even faster than Divine Lightning? That’s crazy!’

’So, in short, if I know a version of lightning that is more powerful than my corresponding Cultivation Realm, it will be faster, but if I don’t, my own Void Lightning will be faster.’

Gravis’ eyes shone.

’There is no more powerful version of lightning than Divine Lightning in this world. This means that my strength will only become more and more powerful the more my Cultivation Realm increases.’

’In that sense, I might become the fastest Immortal Emperor that can exist in this world. Even the fastest Cultivator, which should be a Cultivator that uses the level six Law variant of the Brilliance Element, can only be as fast as a level six Law. Meanwhile, when I am a Peak Immortal Emperor, my Void Lightning will be nearly as fast as a level seven Law.’

’Oh, wait!’ Gravis thought as he facepalmed. ’I forgot about Avatars. This means that there is a chance that someone could also be as fast as a level seven Law if they have a corresponding level six Law as their Avatar.’

’Sadly, I can’t use my Void Lightning as my Avatar.’

Then, Gravis smirked.

SHING!

Gravis teleported away until he was just in the Spirit Sense range of Mortis.

WHOOOOOOM!

In front of Gravis appeared a ball that continually shifted and showed all the different realities.

’But why would I even need that? I have the Law of Perceived Reality as my Avatar,’ Gravis thought with a smirk. ’As long as Mortis is inside my Spirit Sense’s range, I can boost the power of my Law of Perceived Reality. After all, even if he has his own will, as long as he allows me to, I can still use him as my Avatar.’

’As soon as my Law of Perceived Reality reaches the power of a level seven Law, it will be able to show the power of a level eight Law. However, even now, it already has the power of a level six Law, and it is definitely one of the four most powerful level six Laws in existence.’

The grey ball vanished.

’Anyway, now that I know how my Void Lightning works, I should get to actually transforming it into usable Weapon Techniques. After all, it kind of is a Focus, and a Focus should be usable with a weapon.’

Chapter 886 - 886 – Finally Useful

Gravis took out his saber and looked at it.

’Let’s see how it works.’

Gravis reforged his saber so that it allowed him to infuse it with Void Lightning. Void Lightning wasn’t exactly a Law, but Gravis still knew how it worked, which allowed him to reforge the saber so that it could absorb Void Lightning.

BZZZ!

The saber sparkled with black lightning without any issues.

’Alright, my saber can now accommodate Void Lightning. Let’s see what happens if I add Inferno.’

Gravis infused the saber with Inferno.

Then, Gravis furrowed his brows.

’I can’t infuse it with Inferno. My saber can only accommodate Void Lightning, but not Inferno. My Void Lightning has no issue with absorbing Inferno, but the saber doesn’t want to absorb Inferno.’

Gravis emptied the saber of his Void Lightning. Then, he used his Inferno. He didn’t need to combine his Inferno with Void Lightning since it automatically combined as soon as he used it. After all, Gravis was forced to use his Void Lightning to create Inferno, if he wanted to or not.

Then, Gravis infused his saber with Inferno.

’Doesn’t work,’ Gravis thought as he saw that his Inferno was rejected. His saber could only absorb pure Void Lightning.

Gravis reforged his saber so that it could absorb Inferno.

Then, he infused his saber with Inferno.

Gravis’ brows furrowed.

’That also doesn’t work?’ Gravis thought with surprise. ’That has always worked, but now, it doesn’t anymore.’

Gravis scratched his chin.

’Well, I can’t use the normal Inferno Law anymore. I can only use my own personal Inferno Law. Therefore, my normal inscription for Inferno can’t absorb this Inferno since they are two different Laws.’

Gravis reforged his saber so that it could absorb his new Inferno Law.

Then, he infused his saber with Inferno.

BRRRR!

His saber now crackled with white lightning, but it wasn’t Divine Lightning, but Inferno in the shape of lightning. Divine Lightning and Inferno Lightning looked very similar.

’That works,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis dispersed the Inferno again and tried to infuse his saber with Frost.

’Doesn’t work. Just as expected,’ Gravis thought.

Then, Gravis looked with a complex expression at his saber.

He didn’t like this development one bit!

’I can’t make my saber absorb more than one Law. When I infused my saber or my spears with Frost in the past, I always had to use specific weapons with fitting inscriptions for Frost. This is still the case.’

’However, if I don’t take advantage of Weapon Techniques and my new different forms of the Elements, I will only become weaker. I could only infuse my weapons with Frost or Punishment Lightning in the past. After all, all the different Elements were useless when infused into a weapon.’

’However, since I can now use Weapon Techniques, I need to use far more Elements and Laws. I not only want to infuse my weapon with Divine Lightning, Inferno, and Frost, but also with Core, Graphite, Magma, and most importantly, Perceived Reality.’

’Sadly, if I want to take advantage of my newfound ability to create powerful Elements, I need an entire arsenal of differently forged weapons in my Spirit Space. Sure, I can just create a ridiculous amount of different weapons, but that would cost so much ore. The only fitting weapon materials for my current Cultivation Realm come from the belongings of Eran, and he didn’t have that much. I can, at most, create five weapons with them.’

’Obviously, that’s not nearly enough to make full use of my new abilities.’

’I don’t have the resources to create weapons for every single Element. Additionally, I would need spares for when one of my weapons breaks. That means that I need like fifty sabers and fifty spears. I don’t have that kind of wealth.’

’I mean, I can probably develop Weapon Techniques now, but they would only exist in theory since I don’t have the wealth to accommodate all of them. Having ten sabers and spears and constantly reforging them takes time and lots of Energy. I can’t do that during a fight since that would be a huge waste of time and Energy.’

Gravis scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

’This is problematic. Is there something I can use?’

Gravis looked through his Spirit Space and took inventory of everything that he owned. He had a ton of different stuff in there, but nothing could really help him out.

But then, Gravis saw something, and he began thinking again.

Inside Gravis’ Spirit Space, Gravis looked at his World Weapon in thought.

’World Weapons are supposed to help Weapon Cultivators. World Weapons act as another self, which makes the combination of Laws easier, more Energy efficient, and faster.’

’Let’s try it,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis took out the World Core from his World Weapon. After all, his World Weapon was far too weak for his current Realm. Then, Gravis reforged his current saber and added the veins for the beast blood. Lastly, Gravis created a hole for the World Core.

SHING!

Gravis cut off his arm and made his blood enter the World Weapon. World Weapons needed the fitting blood of beasts to work. After all, beast blood had Laws running through it, allowing it to act as a kind of Law conductor.

A lot of Cultivators had issues in finding fitting beasts. After all, the beast had to have the same Element as the user of the World Weapon, and they had to be at the same Realm.

Fortunately, Gravis had a beast body, and it was impossible to find a better fitting beast than himself.

After filling his new World Weapon with his own blood, Gravis put the World Core into the World Weapon.

Whooom!

The saber now radiated the same aura as Gravis, and Gravis felt like he was holding part of himself.

Gravis didn’t add any kind of inscription to his World Weapon. The World Core already acted as a kind of inscription. After all, it was the thing that absorbed the Element and distributed throughout the weapon, not the weapon itself.

BRRR!

Gravis injected Inferno into the World Weapon, and it burst with Inferno.

Gravis’ eyes shone.

SSSHHH!

Gravis infused it with Storm, and a violent storm of green lightning came out of the saber.

Gravis smiled widely.

CRKCRKCRK!

Frost, in the form of lightning, was crackling out of the World Weapon.

"It works!" Gravis shouted with elation as he looked at his World Weapon with intensity.

"I can infuse my World Weapon with everything I want! It’s just another form of myself, and I can use all the different Laws! My World Weapon doesn’t give me any advantages of speed, Energy efficiency, or ease of use, but it allows me to use all my different Elements!" Gravis shouted with excitement.

However, Gravis’ elation quickly vanished as he began thinking again.

’Sadly, I only have one World Weapon and only one World Core. Sure, I can probably create a ton of empty husks for new World Weapons, but as long as the old one isn’t destroyed, I can’t put the World Core into them. Additionally, if I want to use a spear, I would need to transfer the World Core. That takes time and concentration.’

Gravis frowned.

’My weapons constantly break during fights. Eran destroyed like ten of them or something. I didn’t count. Also, what if my World Core is destroyed? Sure, I can gather the pieces and recombine them, but that also takes Energy and time. During an intense fight, I can’t allow myself to gather World Core pieces and then combine them again.’

’I need more World Cores.’

’I’m certain that I can find Middle World Cores in this world. There should even be Higher World Cores. However, they are super rare. Most Cultivators probably don’t know what they can do, but the All-Matter Sect probably has someone that can create World Weapons, and they would be searching for these World Cores like crazy. So, even if no one knows what they do, they will still be bought by the All-Matter Sect for a high price.’

’Additionally, if I start asking about World Cores, the All-Matter Sect will probably realize that I know the Law of the Dead World. They will probably think that I am encroaching on their monopoly and would want to eliminate me. They are probably only forging World Weapons for the absolute elite of the other Peak Sects, and they probably earn a ridiculous amount of money with these trades.’

’If they know that I know the Law of the Dead World, they would think that I am a danger to the very foundation of their prosperity. I would become their number one enemy, even more important than the beasts.’

’There’s only one place where I can search for World Cores without putting myself into danger, and that is the beast territory. However, the fact that World Cores are super rare still persists.’

Gravis scratched his chin in thought.

’Well, if my grand plan actually works, I should be able to get some World Cores. However, until that time, I have to be careful whom I fight. I should avoid fighting Immortal Emperors until that time arrives.’

Then, Gravis remembered something.

’Wait, there’s another way!’ Gravis thought as his eyes shone.

’Everything I just thought about was on the basis that my weapons break. Yet, what if my weapons don’t break?’

’The materials that Eran’s weapon was made out of were Hard Complex Materials. That’s a level five Law, and as long as I combine that Law with the Core Battle Laws, I can create a weapon that can block an attack on the level of a level 5.5 Law. As long as I don’t block the most powerful Weapon Technique of my opponent, my weapon won’t break.’

Gravis nodded.

’Seems like my grand plan has to be postponed. I might need to fight if I want to realize my grand plan and fighting with my current equipment is too dangerous.’

’So, first of all, I need to create several Weapon Techniques to expand my fighting style. After that, I need to comprehend the Soft Pure Law and then the Hard Complex Law.’

Gravis planned for his immediate future and then directly went to creating Weapon Techniques.

Gravis spent several years creating a ton of different Weapon Techniques, and even Mortis became impatient and urged him on.

However, after Gravis informed Mortis of his plan, Mortis nodded and started to help Gravis.

How?

Well, Mortis left Arc’s clearing and traveled to the beast territory.

There, he would search for many different Soft Pure materials.

As long as Mortis comprehended the Soft Pure Law, Gravis would also comprehend it.

So, while Gravis was creating a ton of Weapon Techniques, Mortis was traveling the beast territory.

It sure was useful to have two Spirits and bodies.

Chapter 887 - 887 – Narcissus

While Gravis was concentrating on creating Weapon Techniques, Mortis left Arc’s clearing and went towards the beast territory. Mortis wanted to comprehend the Soft Pure Law as quickly as possible so that Gravis and he could concentrate on the Hard Complex Law. Like this, Gravis’ weapon wouldn’t be in danger anymore, and Mortis also wouldn’t need to use up as many weapons.

Mortis entered the ground and went down as far as possible. He managed to dive deeper than 90,000 kilometers since he was now a Major Circulation Immortal King.

Mortis was using the Law of Graphite’s Gravity and the Law of Inferno’s Heat to protect himself from the heat and gravity down there. Mortis preferred using lightning, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t also use all the other Laws Gravis and he knew.

After a couple of days, Mortis arrived in front of the root network and stopped before it.

Right now, Mortis was in his beast form. Gravis was the blueprint of Mortis’ entire existence, which meant that Mortis also had a beast body.

However, Mortis preferred the color white over black. Because of that, his beast form was white.

On top of that, there was an additional change.

Mortis only had two arms, while Gravis had six.

Why?

Because Mortis didn’t need more. He relied entirely on his lightning, and with only two arms, Mortis could push his entire body weight behind his weapon. In terms of physical power, Mortis would be able to unleash more power with a single attack than Gravis. Well, at least as long Gravis didn’t create a saber that could be grabbed with all six of his hands, but that would be stupid.

A powerful sense scanned Mortis.

Then, the root network opened before Mortis.

However, Mortis didn’t enter.

Instead, he smirked.

"Narcissus," Mortis said directly.

The sense shook as it looked at Mortis very closely.

"I don’t know you," Narcissus said.

Right now, Narcissus felt a bit surprised and annoyed. How did this mere Immortal King learn of its name, and even more, how did this mere Immortal King dare to utter its name?

Usually, Narcissus would have simply eliminated this disrespectful beast, but somehow, Narcissus felt like he would be committing a mistake. For some reason, this small Immortal King felt enigmatic to Narcissus. It was like Narcissus couldn’t see through it.

"So, you haven’t noticed?" Mortis asked with a smirk.

If Narcissus had a human face, he would be furrowing his brows right now. What was this Immortal King talking about? What couldn’t it notice?

Suddenly, Narcissus became shocked.

How was this possible!?

Narcissus had inspected this beast with its level six Law of the Soul, and it had seen no issues.

However, just now, the fluctuations of a Spirit and a Will-Aura appeared.

This was not a beast.

This was a human!

Of course, Narcissus wasn’t stupid, and it knew that this beast had purposefully revealed his Spirit.

But why?

Narcissus didn’t know this beast, no, human.

"Surprised?" Mortis asked with a smirk. "That’s the power of a Law I recently comprehended, but you don’t need to worry. There are only two other people in this world that know this Law, and you are not enemies with either of them."

"Who?" Narcissus asked.

"Your teacher and Gravis, the black demon that passed through here a couple of years ago," Mortis said.

Narcissus’ mind calmed down.

This human knew of teacher.

This truly meant that they were not enemies.

Additionally, this human was right. Narcissus still remembered that human in the form of a beast that had foolishly passed through its domain. If it hadn’t seen that human several times in Arc’s clearing, it would have directly killed him.

Narcissus’ body was gigantic, and since it had once been raised in Arc’s clearing, its body even stretched into Arc’s clearing. It was one of the very few living beings that knew where Arc’s clearing was actually located in the world. Everyone only traveled there with an emblem. Very few actually knew where it was located.

Narcissus had seen how Gravis had taught several classes of young beasts, and it had also listened in on some conversations Gravis had had with some other beings in the clearing.

Gravis hadn’t known Narcissus, but Narcissus had known him.

It was understandable that Narcissus’ teacher knew this enigmatic, unknown Law. After all, not even Narcissus was able to see through its teacher’s origin. Narcissus was already millions of years old, and it was probably the second oldest being that existed after its big brother.

However, the teacher had always been there.

He had never changed, and he had never left the clearing.

He had only continued to gather new members and simply taught them some things.

This had happened when Narcissus was born, and it hadn’t changed even until now. It was like no time had passed for its teacher.

This meant that its teacher was probably immeasurably ancient.

So, it was understandable that its teacher knew this Law.

However, that human, Gravis, also knew that Law?

It had noticed that Gravis had an insanely powerful Battle-Strength, but it was still in the Realm of an Immortal King.

Being able to fight many levels above oneself was one thing but being able to comprehend a Law that an existence millions of years old didn’t even know existed was an entirely different thing.

However, most shocking of all was that this unknown human in front of it also knew this Law.

Narcissus had no idea who that was.

Yet, he knew teacher, and he knew Gravis. He even knew his name.

Who was that?

"Who are you?" Narcissus directly asked. Its interest had been piqued in a big way.

Mortis chuckled a bit, but his chuckle was empty. There was no mirth behind it. "I could be said to also be part of your teacher’s clearing, but I have only recently joined. My name is Mortis, and in a sense, you can see me as Gravis’ partner for that grand plan of his."

Narcissus was still unsure of Mortis’ origins, but it didn’t feel any falsehood from him.

"Do you know of Gravis’ plan?" Mortis asked.

"I have listened in on several conversations. So, yes, I know," Narcissus answered.

"Perfect," Mortis said with a smirk. "That will save us some time."

"You want my cooperation?" Narcissus asked.

"We do," Mortis said. "After all, you are the ruler over the border. Without your permission, we can’t start with it."

"Teacher has already agreed," Narcissus said. "My opinion on this matter is irrelevant. If he says that it’s okay, it’s okay. However, I will not protect you."

"Sure, but that’s only for the greater implementation, not for the specifics," Mortis said, ignoring the comment about not receiving protection.

"What specifics?"

"Law Fruits," Mortis said.

Narcissus remained silent for a while.

"Dangerous," Narcissus said after a while.

"What’s the problem?" Mortis asked. "You will get something equally as great. On top of that, the foundation of your camp is solid. What’s so dangerous about that?"

"You misunderstood," Narcissus said. "Dangerous for you, not for us."

Mortis scoffed. "What, you think I haven’t realized the danger?" Mortis asked. "Of course I’m not so stupid that I would go with those to the All-Matter Sect. We are two people now, so we are not bound to one location."

"The Life Sect," Narcissus commented.

"Exactly," Mortis said.

Narcissus remained silent for a while.

"I’m fine with it, but there must be fitting compensation," Narcissus said.

"Of course," Mortis said.

"Was that what you wanted to ask me?" Narcissus asked.

"Yes," Mortis answered. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some Laws to comprehend. If you have any questions, you probably won’t have any issues in contacting my partner or me."

Mortis passed through the opening in the root network and entered the beast territory.

Meanwhile, Narcissus continued looking at Mortis with intrigue.

This human felt very special.

The entire time Narcissus talked to him, it felt like it couldn’t oppose Mortis. It was like Mortis was in full control over everything, even though Narcissus could have killed Mortis with a casual movement of its roots.

Additionally, Mortis had been able to hide his Spirit from Narcissus, a being that knew the level six Law of the Soul.

Not even Immortal Emperors could do that.

How had Mortis been able to hide his Spirit?

The Law of Perceived Reality.

Perceived Reality around Mortis changed when he willed it. As soon as anyone didn’t question their own judgment, they wouldn’t know what they were seeing.

Of course, there were some limitations.

If Narcissus hadn’t been so certain of its own abilities to see through beings, this wouldn’t have worked. It simply had cast a cursory glance at Mortis. After not seeing anything out of the ordinary, it had ignored him again.

That was until Mortis asked it if it hadn’t noticed.

At that point, Narcissus had taken a closer look, and then Narcissus had seen the truth.

It wasn’t Mortis that had purposefully shown himself.

It was Narcissus’ uncertainty over its own senses that made it realize the truth.

Its perceived reality had been that it was able to see through everything, and Mortis had accommodated it. Yet, as soon as its perceived reality came into even the slightest bit of question, it saw physical reality, which had not changed.

"I just talked with Narcissus, and it agreed to our plan," Mortis transmitted to Gravis. They could talk with each other from any distance.

"Oh, cool," Gravis transmitted with surprise. It sure was helpful to have another one of himself who could take off some work from Gravis.

Then, Mortis told Gravis about the effects of the Law of Perceived Reality, and Gravis took a deep breath.

"That was risky," Gravis transmitted. "It didn’t know you, and if it thought that a human tried to pass it in disguise, you wouldn’t even have been able to explain yourself. You would just have died."

"Since when have you become such a pussy?" Mortis asked with disdain. "This is Cultivation. We are constantly in life-threatening danger."

"Great, but the problem here is that your death will also majorly affect my life!" Gravis answered.

"Sucks to be you, I guess," Mortis answered with a smirk.

Gravis only groaned.

Chapter 888 - 888 – Samsara

Several years passed.

WHOOOM!

Gravis unleashed a grey slash that shot forward with incredible speeds. As it passed over the lake, reality seemed to bend around it. It was like physical reality was being broken down.

Gravis had just unleashed his newest attack with a lot of power and watched it shooting over the lake with a smile.

Finally, Gravis could use the Law of Perceived Reality as an actual attack!

Finally, he could create powerful Weapon Techniques!

BANG!

The slash hit something hard and vanished. Arc had created a Formation Array for Gravis to practice in. Like this, his attacks wouldn’t damage the clearing.

’I can still make it even better,’ Gravis thought with a glow in his eyes. ’Right now, it’s only composed of the Law of Perceived Reality, but I can probably add even more Laws.’

More years passed.

SHING!

The same attack was unleashed over the lake, but it was slightly different.

At first glance, it didn’t seem any different from the previous ones, but there was one difference.

A slight glow of white fire could be seen on it.

This was the Deep Wood Element, but not the entirety of it.

Gravis had incorporated the Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction into his slash. Like this, his attack, which only corroded the reality around the enemy, would also eat away at the enemy’s soul.

Using the Law of Perceived Reality with a physical attack would make the target go through an incredible number of different realities. Their mind would relive their life again and again, but always from different perspectives.

In one life, they would see themselves from the eyes of a close one.

In another life, they would see themselves from the eyes of a rival.

In another life, they would see themselves from the eyes of their master.

Many different perspectives would be fused together to create many different images of the same person.

In the best-case scenario, the enemy wouldn’t recognize themselves and physical reality anymore.

They would lose themselves and would stop being themselves.

In the worst-case scenario, they wouldn’t receive any damage.

The effectiveness of this attack entirely depended on the personality and will of the opponent. It could completely destroy their will, but it could also be nearly useless.

However, no matter which case happened, the enemy would feel exhausted, and their concentration would receive a significant hit.

After going through many lifetimes in a moment, their mind would feel incredibly exhausted, which made it harder for them to fight and would also make them more susceptible to the normal effects of the Law of Perceived Reality.

However, all of this was only true before the most recent change.

Now, the enemy’s soul would definitely be injured, no matter what happened. The Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction ensured that.

In short, the Law of Deep Wood’s Destruction was perfectly compatible with the effects of the physical attack of perceived reality.

It was like these Laws were made for each other.

Sadly, incorporating a Battle Law of an Element into an attack based on the Law of Perceived Reality was difficult. These Laws were from completely different categories, and they weren’t on the same level.

This was why it took Gravis several years to create this attack.

Funnily enough, this physical attack had no effect on the physical body of the opponent.

It was a physical attack that attacked the soul and will of a being.

Gravis had thought about incorporating some actual physical Battle Laws into the attack, like the Law of Storm Cutting or Inferno’s Explosion. Sadly, the more Laws Gravis added, the more difficult it became to create and execute the attack.

Going a bit for the soul and going a bit for the body was stupid. Getting through the opponent’s armor and soul defense was the biggest hurdle, and if Gravis divided the power of his attack onto two different dimensions, it might break neither of them.

So, Gravis decided to fully focus on a soul attack.

’There’s still one more Law I want to add,’ Gravis thought.

Initially, Gravis wanted to add the Law of Divine Lightning, but the amount of Energy required to add an entire Element, and a level six one at that, was not worth it.

He had also thought about adding the Law of Lightning’s Speed, but the speed of the attack was already pretty fast thanks to Gravis’ powerful physical body and the speed of his Void Lightning.

’I already spent 500 years trying to create this slash, and it will take much longer to add another Law. If I had the time, I would add more and more Laws, but I don’t have it, sadly.’

’Anyway, one more should still be possible.’

5,000 years passed.

Another slash shot over the lake, and it looked just like the other ones at first glance.

Yet, there was one slight difference if one looked closer.

The different realities appeared far more real than before.

"Finally!" Gravis shouted with a bright smile.

What Law had Gravis added?

The Law of Shadow’s Illusion!

Wasn’t that Law just perfect for this attack?

The concept of illusions was closely related to perceived realities. After all, illusions were not real and didn’t exist in physical reality, just like perceived reality. Perceived reality wasn’t real, and it also didn’t exist in physical reality.

The Law of Shadow’s Illusion made the different realities that much more real. Maybe the opponent wouldn’t even know if they returned to physical reality. Maybe they would believe in being in another life and just wait for it to end, just like with the previous ones.

Like that, Gravis could maybe even just walk up to the opponent and end their life without any resistance.

’The enemy will go through lifetimes in a matter of seconds, and in the best case, they will forget who they are. Isn’t this just like reincarnation?’ Gravis thought with a smile.

’So, let’s call this attack Samsara.’

Gravis felt proud that his naming sense had improved, but he quickly had to sigh.

’Man, creating Weapon Techniques is really hard. After 5,500 years, I only managed to incorporate two additional Battle Laws. A third one might actually take me 50,000 years at this rate. I don’t have that kind of time,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis spent another year perfecting the execution of his attack. Being able to do it once and being able to do it every time was a huge difference. Gravis had to be able to use this attack consistently.

’I wonder, do I even need Weapon Techniques for the different Elements? Probably not. Every Element can already incorporate its own Battle Laws without any issue, and I can simply infuse them into my weapon if necessary.’

’However, there is still something I can create.’

Gravis remembered when Stella had killed that spy from Underworld.

Stella had unveiled a kind of wheel, and she had activated three powerful Elements in one technique.

This meant that the Elements could combine with each other in a single attack.

If Gravis could incorporate all nine Elements in a single attack with all their Battle Laws, how powerful would that be?

’Wonder how long it took the Nine Elements Sect to create that Weapon Technique. Sure enough, the foundation of a Peak Sect is terrifying,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis couldn’t imagine how long it would take him to combine all nine Elements in such a flexible manner. Could something like this be completed in a single lifetime in this higher world?

’It doesn’t make much sense to create attacks for each Element, but I should still create one for Magma. Although calling it an attack might be incorrect. I have Divine Lightning now, and its destructive power is far higher than Magma. However, Magma should be a great Element for defense.’

’Maybe I could create a Weapon Technique that allows me to infuse a shield with Magma? The fact that I would only use my shield for this specific technique would also not require the shield to be a World Weapon.’

Gravis scratched his chin as he looked at the clouds.

’Although, I would still need a ton of ore. Right now, I don’t have the ore to create a good shield. Additionally, my shields would quickly break one after the other. I need the Hard Complex Law.’

’Speaking of, how has the Soft Pure Law still not appeared in my mind? Over 5,000 years have passed. Mortis should be done by now.’

Gravis hadn’t asked how Mortis was doing all this time since he didn’t want to interrupt his Law Comprehension. Being interrupted was annoying.

"How’s it going with the Soft Pure Law?" Gravis asked.

"Busy," Mortis answered directly.

Gravis furrowed his brows. That answer felt somewhat evasive to Gravis.

"Busy with what?"

"Being imprisoned."

Gravis blinked a couple of times.

"What did you do!?"

Chapter 889 - 889 – Mortis' Mistake

"I killed some beasts," Mortis answered.

Gravis narrowed his eyes inside Arc’s clearing.

"How many?"

"...A couple," Mortis answered after a pause.

"How many!?" Gravis asked again.

"I don’t know. I didn’t count," Mortis answered with annoyance. "Like maybe 40 or so."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "And they are probably all Immortal Kings?" Gravis asked.

"Most of them, yes," Mortis answered.

"Why?"

"Because they interrupted my Law Comprehension or didn’t allow me to trade for their resources," Mortis answered. "You know that we need to go to multiple different places to comprehend the Soft Pure Law, and most of them just stopped me and said that this was their territory."

"So, I killed them," Mortis said.

Gravis scoffed. "What? Are you the Opposer? Is your solution to everything just killing?"

"What’s wrong about that?" Mortis asked in annoyance. "Your father managed to become powerful this way. It’s a proven method."

"Yes, but back then, the concept of Karmic Luck either didn’t exist, or father had a normal amount of Karmic Luck. Instead, in your case, if you manage to anger even one powerful person, the chances are high that this person would want to kill you," Gravis explained.

"So? Then I just wasn’t powerful enough," Mortis said coldly. "If I die, I die."

"You gotta give yourself enough time to become powerful!" Gravis shouted angrily. "You can’t expect a rabbit to walk into a crocodile’s mouth and then saying that it wasn’t powerful enough. No, it wasn’t that the rabbit wasn’t powerful enough, but that the rabbit wasn’t smart enough!"

"Are you calling me stupid?" Mortis asked with a freezing and threatening tone.

"No, but you’re acting stupid!" Gravis shouted. "You are part of me, and I know that you are definitely not stupid, but your idiotic pride that says that giving even a small inch means being inferior makes you do stupid things!"

"How often has it happened that I underestimated others? Remember Byron? Remember Morus? Remember Narcissus? You are part of me, and I’m very susceptible to overestimating my own power."

"That was you, not me," Mortis said.

"Yes, that was me, not you!" Gravis shouted back. "So, learn from my mistakes so that you don’t commit them!"

Mortis actually agreed with Gravis. He knew that he had fucked up big time, but he didn’t want to admit it in front of the perceived weaker version of himself.

Mortis wanted to show Gravis that his way was better to become powerful, but now, Mortis was stuck in this shitty prison while Gravis had never been in prison all his life.

Mortis wasn’t allowed to kill beasts. He wasn’t allowed to leave this place. He wasn’t allowed to summon any Laws to comprehend them.

Mortis was just stuck sitting there, doing absolutely nothing.

Had it been worth it?

No.

If Mortis had just decided to ignore some beasts, he would have already finished the Soft Pure law.

Imprisonment was a horrible punishment for Cultivators. After all, they were doomed to be stuck on their current Realm and comprehension while watching their longevity shrink and shrink. It was basically damaging their future potential by taking away time.

Gravis and Mortis argued for over ten more minutes. Gravis was always on the aggressive side, while Mortis was on the defensive side. He knew that he had committed a mistake, but he just couldn’t admit it to his perceived weaker self.

Gravis knew very well what Mortis was thinking. After all, Gravis was the blueprint for Mortis.

"Are you so weak that you can’t even admit that you have made a mistake?" Gravis asked.

"Don’t you dare call me weak!" Mortis shouted.

"Your Battle-Strength is powerful, but what about your personality? Will you forever be stuck in your way without questioning yourself? Do you believe that conviction in your belief is a strength instead of a weakness?" Gravis asked.

Mortis didn’t immediately answer.

"What’s the problem?" Gravis asked, having calmed down by now. "You won’t be injured by admitting a mistake. Your Battle-Strength won’t decrease. The only thing that will happen is that you have admitted a mistake. The pain of jumping over your stupid pride will transform into motivation to never make such a stupid mistake again."

"Admitting a mistake is growth, not regression," Gravis said with conviction.

Mortis remained silent for a while. He knew that Gravis was right, but it was so very hard to admit his mistakes. If it were anyone else, Mortis wouldn’t find it difficult. He would simply say nonchalantly that he had committed a mistake.

But in front of Gravis?

In front of the version of himself that was supposed to be a weaker version without any courage to face danger?

Wouldn’t he be admitting that the other Gravis was the superior one?

Gravis noticed that Mortis still didn’t answer and sighed.

"Advantages and disadvantages, Mortis," Gravis said.

Then, Mortis’ eyes shone.

Yes, so what if he was weaker in this category compared to Gravis? Specifically this weakness allowed him to be superior to Gravis in other regards.

Mortis was still more powerful than Gravis in Battle-Strength, and wasn’t Battle-Strength the most important? Power was everything, after all.

Mortis was still the more powerful version of Gravis. It was just that in some very specific situations, his mindset was not as effective.

"Fine," Mortis said finally. "I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have killed so many beasts."

Gravis smiled brightly. "No problem. Now, do you need any help?"

"No," Mortis said, making Gravis furrow his brows again. "My sentence is 5,000 years long, and I already finished 3,500 of those. 1,500 years isn’t so long, and it might be better to just finish it instead of trying anything."

In the beginning, Gravis had thought that Mortis had become stubborn again, but he realized that Mortis was actually doing the smart thing. The old him would not have accepted such a humiliation, but the new him was thinking about the long term.

Of course, a single conversation won’t fundamentally change Mortis, but it would allow him to slowly change himself over time.

"Alright," Gravis said. "I’m done with my Weapon Techniques. Do you want me to finish the Soft Pure Law?"

"No, I want to finish it," Mortis answered. "How about you go visit Stella in the meantime? Like this, I won’t have to wait for you."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

With that, the conversation between Mortis and Gravis ended. Gravis quickly went to Arc and talked to him for a while.

However, shortly before Gravis left Arc’s clearing, he remembered something.

"The problem with my lightning is resolved now that Mortis is here, right?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded.

"So, I can try the Emotional Laws, right?"

Arc nodded again. "You can, but it’s difficult for you to find the necessary Law Comprehension Areas," Arc said.

"Are they that important?" Gravis asked with furrowed brows.

Arc nodded again. "There is only one Law Comprehension Area for each Law," Arc said. "This means that they are not only rare but unique in all the world. This makes them incredibly valuable."

Gravis sighed. "This means that I should wait. If I want to get to them earlier, I would need to either pay a ridiculous sum of money or join a Peak Sect. It would be better to just wait until I become unparalleled in this world."

"That would be easier," Arc said.

"Fine," Gravis said. "It’s not like I’m going to run out of Laws to comprehend anytime soon. It doesn’t really make a difference if I comprehend them now or later."

With that said, Gravis left Arc’s clearing and traveled towards the Nine Elements Sect.

It was time to meet Stella again.

’It has been over 40,000 years.’

Chapter 890 - 890 – The Nine Elements Sect

Gravis exited Arc’s clearing and traveled to the Nine Elements Sect. Since he had become quite a bit stronger, he finished the journey in just a couple of days. Even more, Gravis no longer needed to avoid any gatherings of Cultivators.

Yes, cities and important locations had beast crystals, but as long as Gravis kept his Law of Perceived Reality active in his surroundings, no one would notice if the beast crystals shone. Gravis couldn’t control the beast crystals, but he could control the perception of everyone around them.

How many beasts straight up entered a big city?

Nearly none.

These beast crystals only existed as a precaution, but they very rarely started shining. After all, nearly all the beasts would be killed on the frontlines.

Because of that, nobody really paid attention to the beast crystals. As soon as they started shining, they could pay attention to them, but as long as they remained inactive, nobody cared. Thus, Gravis could easily influence everyone’s perception. As long as no Immortal Emperor looked with intense concentration at the beast crystals, constantly questioning their own perception, he wouldn’t be spotted.

And Immortal Emperors probably had better things to do.

So, after just a couple of days, Gravis arrived in front of the Nine Elements Sect.

For the first time, Gravis actually saw the headquarters of the Nine Elements Sect, and it was just as impressive as he had imagined.

The different, luxurious buildings of the Sect shone in all the different colors and were built on different, flying mountains. The mountains were anchored to the ground by gigantic chains several kilometers wide. These chains had been created with Immortal Emperor materials, which would elicit respect out of anyone that saw them.

Every inch was bursting with Formation Arrays that created a beautiful array of colors that shone throughout all the Sect and surroundings.

However, that was not the most impressive thing.

Around the Nine Elements Sect were nine Law Comprehension Areas, each one corresponding to one of the pure level three Elements. Even more surprising was the fact that a ton of weaker Cultivators stood inside the Law Comprehension Areas, comprehending the Laws. There weren’t even any guards, and these people had no insignia from the Nine Elements Sect.

This meant that anyone was free to just look at them if they wanted. They were basically public property.

Obviously, such a concentrated area with different Law Comprehension Areas couldn’t have possibly been created by nature. This meant that all these Law Comprehension Areas were artificial.

’Heavy floating mountains, chains that are created with way too powerful materials, a ton of Formation Arrays just to make the surroundings look more beautiful, and nine Law Comprehension Areas close to each other that everyone can look at. The Nine Elements Sect is oozing money, power, and pride,’ Gravis thought.

’What a waste of Energy,’ Gravis thought with a sigh and a shake of his head. ’They are probably burning through a million Immortal Stones per day just to keep everything going. However, none of these things actually increase their defense. It’s simply a display of vanity.’

As soon as Gravis saw the Nine Elements Sect, his impression of them fell several levels.

Didn’t they know that all of this was unnecessary?

Only weak people filled with vanity would be interested in these kinds of displays.

’Although this display would attract a lot of new disciples. Even if these new disciples were mentally weak, the Nine Elements Sect could fix their mindset.’

Gravis furrowed his brows. ’Yet, I doubt that they would do that. The Law Comprehension Areas would already be enough, but they even have these Formation Arrays. Even worse are the chains. None of these weak people would even recognize the materials of the chains. In this world where humans are going crazy for materials, this Sect is wasting so many of them just to display power.’

’These chains could simply be broken down and sold to the powerful elders, increasing their power even more. This means that someone in the upper echelon doesn’t want these chains to vanish. They are either one of the most powerful people in the Sect or a ton of people with high standing.’

’This Sect is definitely not a wonderland. The more they want to appear like a wonderland, the more obvious it is that this isn’t one,’ Gravis thought.

’Stella probably had to deal with a ton of people in her life that put respect above everything else. Such a beautiful woman like Stella probably had to deal with many suitors that just oozed prestige and money. Yet, Stella is obviously not interested in these kinds of people.’

Gravis took out the emblem that Stella had given to him before they parted ways. This emblem would ensure that they would be able to meet again.

After all, not everyone could see the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect.

Gravis’ Spirit Sense encompassed the entire Nine Elements Sect. This was incredibly rude and invasive, but no one noticed. The Law of Perceived Reality also hid Gravis’ Spirit Sense.

Of course, Gravis was still cautious. If his Spirit Sense touched a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, they might notice him. Because of that, Gravis didn’t stretch his Spirit Sense into the core palace of the Nine Elements Sect.

Gravis found a lot of Cultivators that had gathered in front of the main entrance of the Sect. Their Cultivation ranged from Unity to the Law Comprehension Realm. This was probably an area where new disciples could register for the entrance exams of the Nine Elements Sect.

Surprisingly, there were fewer Cultivators of these Realms inside the Sect than outside the main entrance. This showed that the Nine Elements Sect only accepted the best of the best. Over 99% of these disciples would probably be disqualified.

Even more surprising was the fact that the Nine Elements Sect had more Immortals and Immortal Kings in their Sect than all the lower Cultivators inside and outside the Sect combined. It was practically teeming with Immortals and Immortal Kings.

’Judging by the number of Immortals and Immortal Kings, Immortals are probably average disciples while Immortal Kings count as elite disciples. I can even see a couple Immortal Emperors, and many of them are dealing with a ton of organization. Immortal Emperors are probably the elders and basic decision-makers of the Nine Elements Sect.’

After that, Gravis inspected the Formation Arrays. Most of them were only there to make the Sect appear grander, but there were also actually useful ones.

Gravis didn’t know much about Formation Arrays, but as soon as the Formation Arrays became active, they gave off Law fluctuations. Gravis knew a ton of Laws, and based on these Law fluctuations, he could extrapolate what these Formation Arrays were roughly doing.

’Interesting,’ Gravis thought. ’One of these Formation Arrays stops the usage of every kind of teleportation, including emblems.’

Gravis took out his emblem from Arc and inspected it.

’Sure enough, not even the Nine Elements Sect can do anything against the Heaven of this world. My emblem still works.’

’Pretty sure Arc made this emblem with the level six Law of Space, which has been integrated into the Major Law of Primordial Force, which has been integrated into the Law of the Dead World, which has been integrated into the Law of the True World. This basically gives this emblem a power of a level eight Law. Even more, if Arc has the Law of the True World as his Avatar, this emblem would actually have the power of a level nine Law.’

Gravis took a deep breath. ’Level nine Law. I just barely comprehended two level five Laws, and I’m holding something in my hand with the power of a level nine Law.’

’Arc sure is unimaginably powerful. Level nine Laws should be Laws that Divine Gods are comprehending.’

Gravis also found something else.

No one could look into the Nine Elements Sect with their Spirit Sense. However, Gravis’ Spirit Sense was working with the Law of Perceived Reality, and the Law of Perceived Reality had the Law of Freedom inside it. Therefore, his Spirit Sense wasn’t impeded in any way. Gravis just didn’t want to look into the core of the Nine Elements Sect.

However, Gravis found something very peculiar outside the Nine Elements Sect.

A couple thousand kilometers in front of the Nine Elements Sect, inside a small Cultivation town, Gravis saw the house of a Nascent Nourishing Realm Cultivator.

This house didn’t seem different from any other house, and it acted as a tavern.

However, when Gravis’ Spirit Sense entered the house, the bartender showed a tiny reaction to Gravis’ Spirit Sense.

Usually, feeling the Spirit Sense of anyone wasn’t really special. Everyone could do it.

However, Gravis was the only one that knew that he had hidden his Spirit Sense. This meant that the person that felt his Spirit Sense wasn’t aware of the fact that he wasn’t supposed to feel the Spirit Sense.

So, he reacted like any Cultivator and just looked at Gravis for a short moment to see who was looking at him.

Gravis furrowed his brows.

This was obviously a Nascent Nourishing Cultivator. Everything about him was on that level.

However, only Major Circulation Immortal Emperors were supposed to be able to feel Gravis’ Spirit Sense, and even more, only when they paid close attention.

The bartender perfectly acted like an ordinary Cultivator, but precisely that told Gravis that he wasn’t an ordinary Cultivator.

’This is a Major Circulation Immortal Emperor that hides just outside the Nine Elements Sect as a Nascent Nourishing Cultivator. He probably knows the Law of Humility, just like Siral. This is the only explanation I can come up with for his ability to hide from my inspection.’

As soon as Gravis saw the bartender react, he didn’t dare to inspect the underground of his tavern. Looking into the bar was expected, but if someone of comparable power also lived below the bar, Gravis’ power would be noticed.

’I can only think of one reason for all of this,’ Gravis thought.

’This is an important location for Underworld.’