Lightning Is the Only Way

"Welcome to the Smart Cultivator," a clerk said with a bright smile to Gravis, Orthar, and Yersi. "What would you like to purchase?"

After looking around their new apartment, the three of them left to get their Virtualization Arrays. They were no longer pressured by the Gravitas and could finally use up all their money for their power. 

It was finally time to learn more Laws!

"Yes, hello," Gravis said. "We will be shopping separately. This is our first time buying Virtualization Arrays, so could you be so nice and call one or two colleagues to take care of my friends? Thank you."

"No problem," the clerk said with a smile as two other clerks appeared. Orthar and Yersi followed the other two clerks, leaving Gravis with the original one. "What kind of Virtualization Array are you looking for?" she asked.

Gravis summoned all his elements around him, creating a powerful display of all the elements. Then, he also showed his Punishment Lightning. "As you see, I know the Mid-Tier Law of the Elements, and I already know Punishment Lightning. My next step is learning the High-Tier Law of the Elements."

The clerk nodded several times. She wasn't really impressed by the display. After all, they served only the most powerful Cultivators. No one else would pay so much money to learn Laws. 

"So, you are looking for the high-tier elements?" she asked, and Gravis nodded. "That's not a problem. These Laws are very popular with Cultivators, and we have enough Virtualization Arrays. Do you already have a plan on how to proceed?"

Gravis scratched his chin. "I've never bought Virtualization Arrays before. Could you please tell me what options I have?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "You can rent, and you can buy our Virtualization Arrays. Buying them would be a smarter option if you intend to pass them down to your family or friends after you're done, but you need to keep in mind that you have to provide the internal Energy storage."

"I don't think that I will buy one," Gravis said. "I have a daughter, but I'm uncertain if she has any talent in the Elemental Laws. Buying them would be too risky. I think I'm more interested in renting them."

The clerk nodded again. "Very well. Most Immortals, when they try to comprehend the High-Tier Elements, rent the Virtualization Arrays by the century. Would you be interested in that?" she asked.

"How much would one of them cost for a century?" Gravis asked.

"That would be ten million Immortal Stones," the clerk said.

Gravis immediately noticed the connection between the price and his father's words. His father had said he would need at least 80 million Immortal Stones and at most 160 million. With eight Laws, this would come down to ten million Immortal Stones per Law at the least and 20 million at most. 

Renting all of them would cost him exactly 80 million for a century. In the end, it depended on Gravis if he managed to understand each one in one or two centuries. Gravis doubted that he would need three centuries.

Gravis nodded. "Sounds reasonable," he said. "I'm interested in all of them, but obviously, I won't rent them all at once."

"Of course," the clerk said with a smile. She had been afraid that Gravis would leave the shop in shock due to the prices, but this customer seemed to have enough money. "Which one would you like to rent first?"

"Metal, please," Gravis said. Understanding metal would give Gravis a head-start on the Material Composition Laws of the higher worlds. As long as he understood metal, understanding the High-Tier Pure Material Laws would come to him easier in the future.

"Sir, I would advise against that," the clerk said.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"Because this is the hardest one to understand due to the metal element also crossing over into the High-Tier Material Laws. I would suggest taking that one last since it might take longer than the other ones. We don't wish for your first experience with us to be a potentially bad one," the clerk explained.

Gravis listened to the clerk and took her opinion into account. It was her job to sell these Virtualization Arrays, and she was also an Immortal King. Therefore, dismissing her advice would be foolish. After all, it was her job to know these things and to advise customers.

"What would you suggest?" Gravis asked.

"Do you know of the Elemental Proliferation Chart?" she asked.

Gravis shook his head.

Whoosh!

In front of Gravis appeared a diagram with the nine elements. Several arrows pointed from one element to another one. It was seemingly random without any rhyme or reason.

"This is the Elemental Proliferation Chart," she said. "The arrows indicate which Law increases the knowledge and experience of a different Law. As you see, understanding earth, fire, and wood would help you in understanding metal. So, before trying metal, I would suggest comprehending these other Laws first."

Gravis knew all the initial elements, but the wood part still confused him a bit. "I get fire and earth, but why does wood help?" he asked.

"Because wood is the antithesis to metal," she said. "Metal is exclusively dead and has absolutely no property that supports life. Earth can house plants and animals, even if it itself is dead. The rapidly moving forces of fire, wind, and lightning can also support a kind of life. Yet, metal is only dead. That is why understanding wood, which is the Law closest to the Life Laws, would help in understanding metal. After all, they are opposites."

Gravis nodded. "Since I already have the Law of Punishment Lightning, I should probably start with fire, wind, and light, correct? After all, the diagram shows that lightning helps with those."

The clerk nodded. "Correct. I would suggest starting with fire. Fire and lightning help with light, which will make understanding light far easier. Everything after that should be logical," she said.

Gravis nodded. He had already created a plan according to the diagram, and, sure enough, metal would be last on the list. She obviously knew what she was talking about. 

"Alright, then I would like to rent the fire one for a century," Gravis said.

The clerk nodded. "Good choice!"

Then, she summoned a contract and handed it over to Gravis. Gravis quickly checked the contract and saw that there was nothing wrong. After signing it, Gravis got his copy and gave the clerk ten million Immortal Stones. A second later, he received his Virtualization Array.

"Do you live in an apartment that supports Virtualization Arrays?" she asked.

Gravis nodded.

"Good. That's important!" she said. "The Virtualization Array uses an internal Energy attractor that needs a large amount of Energy to perfectly function. The usual density of Energy wouldn't work, which would force the Virtualization Array to use up its internal Energy storage, only making it last for around 15 years. The apartments with Virtualization Array support deliver this Energy."

Gravis hadn't heard of that before, but now the price of the apartment made a lot more sense. The rent of his apartment included the Energy cost for three Virtualization Arrays running all the time. 

"When supported by the Energy supply of such an apartment, the Virtualization Array will work for exactly one century. As the contract stated, you have 102 years to return the Virtualization Array, but it will only work for 100. Please keep that in mind," she said politely.

Gravis nodded. "Thank you. I will wait here for my two companions," Gravis said.

"No problem. That's my job," she said with a polite bow. "Thank you for the purchase, and I wish you success in comprehending your Laws."

The clerk vanished, and Gravis waited at the entrance for the other two.

After some minutes, Orthar came back. "What did you buy?" Gravis asked.

"Soul Laws," he said. 

"Because of your Mind Laws?" Gravis asked.

Orthar nodded.

Orthar had been ready to ascend back then already, which meant that he had also comprehended a level three Law. His level three Law had something to do with the mind. With this Law, he was able to accelerate his mind and slow down the mind of his opponent. Moreover, if the opponent was weaker, he could even control their mind somewhat. 

Orthar obviously chose the Soul Laws because he thought there also had to be a similar Law for the Soul. After all, the mind and Soul were intrinsically connected.

Yersi nearly took an hour to return.

"What did you get?" Gravis asked.

"I joined the Affinity Test," she said.

"What's that?" Gravis asked.

"Well, I'm not sure what Laws I should concentrate on," Yersi said in thought. "I managed to learn Punishment Lightning quickly, but that was only because of you. You said that it's possible that my affinity for lightning may only go that far and that I should look for a more fitting Law."

Gravis nodded. His three kids had learned Punishment Lightning very quickly, which was obviously not because of their own efforts. This was nearly identical to Gravis when he had been handed the Law of Punishment Lightning by the lower Heaven.

Gravis didn't expect Yersi to comprehend the Law of the Dead World. This was obviously overkill. So, this left her with a ton of level three Laws as options. Trying to create an Avatar out of a level four Law was also overkill, especially since Yersi wasn't hellbent on cultivating. Gravis only wanted to give her a good base.

Yersi could aim for the Body Strengthening Laws, Elemental Laws, Primordial Force Laws, Life Laws, Material Laws, or any other kind of level three Law. Sadly, she wasn't sure about her own talent regarding Laws, which was why she joined the Affinity Test.

"The Affinity Test gives me several Virtualization Arrays for different kinds of level one Laws, and I should try to understand all of them. Then, based on my own feelings and according to the time I took to understand each one, the shop will be able to evaluate my affinity towards different categories of Laws," Yersi explained.

"How much is it?" Gravis asked.

"900,000 Immortal Stones," Yersi said.

Gravis was quite surprised. "900,000? For several Arrays? I spent ten million for only one," he said.

"Level one Virtualization Arrays are far cheaper," Orthar said from the side. "The prices drop and rise by ten times from level to level."

Gravis scratched his chin. Sure enough, that would be the equivalent of nine level one Arrays. The price differences were really insane.

This meant that Yersi would probably go through something like ten different Virtualization Arrays for level one Laws. After understanding all of these Laws, the Smart Cultivator would be able to give an accurate description of Yersi's affinity towards the different Law categories.

"Anyway," Gravis said. "I think we should start. When we all start at the same time, we will also finish at the same time. Meeting each other every century sounds like a good idea," Gravis said.

The other two agreed, and the three of them left.

It was time to comprehend Laws!