Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis didn't immediately rent the next one but went with Yersi to spend more time with his family. Yersi was an integral part of his family, and he also wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. He was an Immortal, and he had far too much longevity left. Spending a couple of years with his daughter would not impact his life at all.

Because of that, Yersi and Gravis spent the next five years together. They visited their family and also went outside to gathering spots. Meeting new people also became far easier than back then.

The reason for that was the Gravitas. Many people had been customers of them at some point, and they started talking with each other. Gravis also finally met some like-minded individuals. Back then, he had only met the kids of powerful beings, not the actual inhabitants of the city. After all, the actual inhabitants only rarely left their homes or shops.

Yet, a lot of people had bought from Gravis and Yersi, and when these people saw the two of them, they joined them. 

Like this, the next five years were spent in casual get-togethers. Gravis didn't always have something to talk about, but simply meeting new people and hearing their experiences felt nice.

Of course, Gravis had also been invited into some powerful Sects several times. This had actually happened even back when they had still operated the Gravitas. A lot of peak Sects had noticed that there was an Immortal that had the Law of the Dead World and went to recruit him. Of course, Gravis declined.

Gravis would visit the higher world next. Who knew what he would want to do after tens of thousands of years? Because of that, Gravis refused everyone to keep his options open. 

After the five years were up, Gravis and Yersi returned to comprehending more Laws. Yersi was about halfway through her test. After she finished the next couple of Virtualization Arrays, she would receive her analyzed affinity for Laws. She couldn't wait!

Gravis went ahead and got the next Virtualization Array. Understanding Inferno was the second hardest part of his elemental comprehension journey here since he had only known one related Law. The only harder one would be metal. Starting from now, the next Laws had been set up so that Gravis always knew at least two related Laws, sometimes even three.

With his new understanding of Brilliance, Gravis rented the one for the element of Storm, which was the level three Law equivalent of wind. Fire and light helped in comprehending wind, while earth was the antithesis. Gravis didn't know earth, but he knew the other two.

After putting the Virtualization Array into his room, Gravis saw his entire room transform into a violent storm. Everything was violently moving around, and even Gravis' body was flung around like a ragdoll.

The Virtualization Array made it so that it seemed like the walls, floor, and ceiling of his room had vanished, but in reality, they were still there. Gravis knew because he became very acquainted with all of them in a single second.

Luckily, Gravis had a beast body, which had a far stronger resistance to physical attacks. Inferno and Brilliance had still been a slight issue, but this purely physical thrashing of Storm was not that bad for him. He only occasionally broke some bones, which was painful but not a big deal. 

Sure, Gravis could have also kept himself still with his Spirit, but then he wouldn't be able to feel the Storm with his being. Because of that, Gravis spent the next couple of years bouncing around in his room.

This one took him around 75 years.

SSSSSSHHH!

Gravis activated his new Law, and the force of the wind vanished. Storm turned into air as some Energy streams moved across his body. Gravis smirked when he felt the gentle movement of Energy and retrieved the Virtualization Array.

"That's far better," he said to himself.

He left his room and saw that Yersi was still busy. So, without waiting, he went to get the next Virtualization Array.

Gravis quickly found a familiar clerk and gave him the Virtualization Array. "Honestly, I had no issues, but how are others supposed to deal with such a violent Storm?" Gravis asked.

"The Virtualization Arrays are catered to the individual, not their Realm," the clerk said with a smile. "Excuse our intrusion, but we always inspect our customers thoroughly. After all, if the Array is too powerful, our customers might die. If it's too weak, it wouldn't be able to show its full effect."

Gravis was a bit surprised. "So you know about my body?" he asked.

The clerk nodded. "Seeing through your body requires the power of a Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King due to your powerful Will-Aura. Researchers that went through a natural world are rare, but we have had some. We know how powerful beast bodies are and made the Virtualization Array fitting for your level and body."

"Huh," Gravis commented. 

'I totally forgot that there are others like me,' he thought, 'but it actually makes sense. After all, I could have chosen to enter a natural world back then.'

The clerk waited for some seconds and looked at a jade token. "Deep Wood is next," he said. "Do you want to rent it right now?"

Gravis nodded. Deep Wood was the level three Law equivalent of wood. This was the Law that actually had the most Laws supporting it, but the one that supported others the least. Just because one element supported another one didn't mean that the other one supported this one.

For example, lightning created light, but light didn't create lightning. Because of this, lightning helped with understanding light, but light didn't help with understanding lightning. 

Wood was supported by earth, water, wind, lightning and had metal as its antithesis. Five of the eight other elements helped in understanding wood. Sadly, wood only supported earth and was the antithesis to metal. 

Gravis paid and went back to his room with the Virtualization Array for Deep Wood. After putting it into his room, Gravis felt like the entire world was transforming. Everything around him started to bend and blur in seemingly impossible ways. 

In a matter of seconds, Gravis received a droning headache. It felt like his Spirit Space was under attack. Gravis also started to feel nauseous for the first time in millennia. He had totally forgotten how that felt.

In short, Gravis felt like shit right now. 

"Oh, this is going to suck big time," he groaned.

This one was far harder to understand than Storm or Brilliance. Gravis actually had to rent it a second time since concentrating on the element was difficult in this state. This Law actually took him 170 years. 

As soon as Gravis managed to comprehend the Law, he seemingly broke the blur of his surroundings. Now, everything looked normal again, except that Gravis was now able to see several white streaks flowing across the room. As soon as the streaks came close to him, they turned into Energy and vanished.

"Fuck, that one was even worse than Brilliance," Gravis grumbled to himself.

Gravis exited his room and saw a message from Yersi. She would soon be finished with her test and wanted to spend more time with Gravis. After all, she also wanted to know his opinion on her evaluation.

Gravis had a lot of time to waste, so he decided to wait. 

He went back to the Smart Cultivator and gave the Virtualization Array back.

"Fuck that thing!" he said as he pointed at it with a sneer.

"I understand," the clerk said with a laugh. "I also hated that one. Deep Wood is just horrible to comprehend, but hey, soul-based attacks are rare. This one will help you a lot."

Gravis scoffed. "Yeah, sure, when I understand the overarching Law at some point. Until then, I can only look at it and protect myself from it."

"Isn't that good enough already?" the clerk said. "Anyway, do you wish to rent the next one?"

Gravis shook his head. "Not now. My daughter will finish her affinity test soon, and I want to be there for her during that time."

The clerk quickly checked the customer registry and read up on Yersi. "The results are basically already set in stone," the clerk said. "We've already found a fitting group of Laws for her, but we still want to finish the test to see if she is also proficient in another group."

Gravis perked up when he heard that. "Oh? What is it?" he asked.

The clerk only smirked.

"I won't spoil the surprise."