Lightning Is the Only Way

The Empress and the white ape looked at each other in confusion. Then, they both turned to Gravis again.

"Why do you want to enter the Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning?" the white ape asked. "You already have comprehended the full Law of Punishment Lightning, and you can't comprehend anything else in there."

Gravis sighed a bit. He really didn't want to explain why right now.

"Because I can absorb lightning to increase my Realm," Gravis said, making the Empress and the white ape widen their eyes in shock.

"What?" the white ape asked. "How is that possible?"

Gravis sighed again. That was why he didn't want to explain.

"It's a very long story, but I really don't want to tell it right now," Gravis said, "but I promise that I will tell you all relevant secrets as soon as I am a King. Right now, there's something weighing heavily on my mind. I just want to get this over with as soon as possible."

The white ape was a bit confused, but the Empress knew the reason. After all, she had seen Gravis' reaction when she had told him about the necessary procreation that every King needed to go through.

"That's fine," the Empress said, "but I still need to know what impact your absorption of the lightning will have on the Law Comprehension Area."

Gravis nodded. "I can tell you that. I guess Punishment Lightning isn't weak, and maybe even some Emperors need to be careful of it. Due to that, it must have an enormous amount of Energy inside it, enough to injure an Emperor, at least."

"The only thing I will do is absorb lightning until I become a King. Since the Punishment Lightning has so much Energy inside it, I won't be able to absorb much of it anyway before becoming a King. Due to the difference in Energy, my presence won't have a big effect on the whole area," Gravis explained.

The white ape nodded along as he listened to Gravis' explanation. Then, he turned to the Empress. "That makes sense," he said. "Additionally, I wanted to return there anyway some time soon. While I'm at it, I can also keep watch over him."

The Empress hummed for a bit. Then, she looked at Gravis with a complex expression. "I presume that you decided to reach the level of a King via that way instead of tempering because of the uncertainty you're facing right now, right?" she asked.

Gravis sighed and nodded. "Yes. I can't wait anymore and need to see the truth with my own eyes."

The Empress closed her eyes and nodded as she leaned back. "Alright," she said. "You can go. If you realize you can't become a King, you can return. Then, we can have a long talk and think about the future," she said.

Gravis looked at the Empress and nodded. "Yes, and thank you for your support."

The Empress opened her eyes again and furrowed her brows at Gravis. "We've already talked about this. Saying thank you is meaningless," she said.

"To you, it is, but not to me," Gravis answered. "I'm not saying thank you so that you like me more, but to show to myself that I won't forget this."

The Empress looked at Gravis like he said something incomprehensible. "Have you already forgotten my past orders?" she asked.

Gravis chuckled a bit. "I should stop being weird, right?" he asked.

"Yes, that," the Empress said. "Try to keep that in mind."

"Sure," Gravis said. Then, he turned to the Grand Elder. "Can we go?" he asked.

The Grand Elder sighed when he heard that. Nothing went normal with Gravis present. He didn't bow to the Empress or him, and he didn't show any of the common courtesies and shows of respect.

Usually, that wouldn't be an issue for the Grand Elder since he could simply admonish the beast, but for some reason, he just couldn't be mad at Gravis. It just kind of felt natural that Gravis acted this way. Also, the Grand Elder didn't want to admit it, but the change of pace felt a bit refreshing.

"Sure, follow me," the white ape said. Then, he turned to the Empress. "I will report my findings as soon as I return."

The Empress nodded. "Go," she simply said.

Then, the white ape left with Gravis following him. After leaving the Mountain of Pride, the white ape changed directions and flew towards the south.

Two minutes later, the white ape suddenly became bigger until he was the same size as Gravis and turned to him. "You're too slow," he said. "Grab my hand."

Gravis came closer and grabbed the white ape's hand.

WHOOOOOOOM!

Immediately, their speed multiplied. Gravis even felt pain all over his body due to the insane acceleration, but his body was still able to withstand that.

Gravis looked at the white ape and saw a lot of lightning leaving his backside as he left a streak of it behind him. This was obviously different from the way Gravis, lightning cultivators, or beasts moved. He wondered how this worked.

"This is the Lightning Speed Law," the Grand Elder said as he noticed Gravis staring at him. "When you transform into lightning, you're unknowingly using it already. Yet, I haven't seen you use it with your actual body before."

Gravis remembered that he had transformed into lightning while he had fought the crocodile. The Grand Elder's eyes were rather sharp since he noticed that part while only seeing Gravis transform into lightning once or twice.

"My guess is," the Grand Elder continued, "that you haven't comprehended the Law yet, but since it's an aspect of lightning, you use it automatically in your Lightning Transformation. I would recommend focusing on that Law for now."

Gravis was taken aback when he heard the Grand Elder's words. "How do you know the name of my technique?" Gravis asked. He hadn't told the white ape about the name of his Lightning Transformation. In actuality, he had told that name to basically no one.

The Grand Elder was a bit surprised when he heard that. Then, he laughed genuinely. "Wait, that's really the name of your technique?" the Grand Elder asked. "I simply called it like that since it's the best description for, well, transforming into lightning."

"Oh," Gravis commented as he facepalmed. "Okay, that makes sense. Yes, that's the name I gave this technique. I think I don't have any particular talent in naming things."

For some reason, the Grand Elder appeared much more relaxed now. Apparently, he had found that turn of events quite amusing. "Then what about that lightning beam you've used to kill the crocodile? Is it called Lightning Wave? Lightning Beam? Lightning Crescent? Lightning Explosion?" he asked.

Gravis sighed again. "It's Lightning Crescent," he commented defeatedly.

"Haha," the Grand Elder laughed again. "Don't you think that's boring? Shouldn't your ultimate move have a domineering name? What about Moon's Descent or Lightning's End? Thunder's Focus?"

Gravis remained silent as he listened to the Grand Elder. All the names sounded quite domineering, and the Grand Elder hadn't even needed to think about them. Meanwhile, Gravis just thought about the words Lightning Bomb, Lightning Crescent, Lightning Transformation, and Lightning Fork.

On their own, they sounded quite nice, but if he thought about them all together, he thought that they sounded boring.

"I think my naming sense is shit," Gravis said, making the Grand Elder laugh more.