Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis went to the Smart Cultivator again and got the last Virtualization Array, which was for Core. This was the level three Law equivalent to metal. It was related to Graphite, Inferno, and had Deep Wood as its antithesis. The Matter Composition Laws would also help somewhat, but not that much. Matter in the higher worlds was completely different from matter in the middle worlds. 

"This one might take you a while," the clerk said. "Understanding Core means understanding around 50% of the Higher Hard Pure Matter Law, which is a High Tier Law. Because of these reasons, understanding Core takes several times longer than understanding all the other ones."

Gravis looked at the Virtualization Array. "How much longer?" he asked.

"Take the one that took you the longest to comprehend and triple the time. This is about the general time someone needs when they have already understood all the other Elemental Laws," the clerk said.

"Three times, huh?" Gravis commented. He didn't feel like it would take him that long. After all, he only needed 45 years for Shadow. Three times his longest comprehension would be over 500 years. Was the difference really that great?

"Can I directly rent it for 500 years?" Gravis asked. Of course, this decision was risky. If Gravis were to understand it in just 100 years, he would still have paid 500 years. Yet, being able to completely concentrate on the Law without having to abort in the middle would be far easier. 

Gravis was pretty sure that he wouldn't take that long, but he remembered his thoughts when he challenged the middle Heaven. He had thought that he would be able to win against the middle Heaven, but he had been mistaken. Maybe the same thing was happening again, and he was severely underestimating the difficulty.

For once, Gravis decided to trust the opinion of someone else when it concerned his own power. Because of that, Gravis directly rented it for 500 years. The evaluation of the clerk had been over 500 years, but Gravis only rented it for 500. Trusting someone's experienced opinion was one thing, but fully trusting it was something else.

The clerk modified the Virtualization Array again, unloading several God Stones into it to increase its storage. 'No wonder these Virtualization Arrays are so expensive. Just level three Virtualization Arrays already need God Stones.'

"Here you go," the clerk said as he gave Gravis the Virtualization Array. Gravis paid the 50 million Immortal Stones, feeling like a chunk had been taken out of his body. This was so much money!

Gravis nodded and teleported away. Then, he informed Yersi about his prolonged cultivation. 500 years was a lot of time, even for Gravis. 

Yersi said goodbye to Gravis, but it wasn't that bad. She could still see him in his room if she wanted. His room wasn't isolated or anything, so if she missed him, she could just look at him. 

Gravis also informed Orpheus, who only wished him success. 500 years was not long for Orpheus. 

Gravis didn't need to inform anyone else since the remaining people he knew would know how long it would take to understand Core. 

Then, Gravis entered his room and put the Virtualization Array into the socket.

CRRRR!

Nearly the entire room was filled with different kinds of metal. On top of that, Gravis could see a particular form of Energy entering and exiting the different metals. This was probably the essence of Core, which demonstrated the elemental component of metal. 

In comparison to all the other times, Gravis wasn't attacked by anything. He could just walk around and look at the different materials. 

As Gravis stood upon the mountain of ore, he couldn't help remembering the time he started his Law Comprehension journey in his Realm Stop. Azure had introduced Ferris to him to keep watch over him. This mountain of ore reminded Gravis of the time he tried to comprehend all the different Pure and Complex Matter Laws. 

Gravis still remembered how he had needed over 30 years to understand a Law. Back then, it felt like forever to him, but now, that would have been an incredibly short time frame. 

Gravis picked up one of the ores and looked at it. "I still remember how I thought how horrible it must feel to not comprehend a single Law in hundreds of years. Yet, now, I can count myself lucky when I need less than a hundred years. This one is going to take several hundred years."

Gravis looked around and released a sigh as he thought about his past evaluations. "500 years is long, but it seems appropriate. This is one of the most difficult level three Laws to comprehend, and it will also push my understanding of Higher Hard Pure Matter to 50%. 500 years for a level three Law and 50% of a level four Law seems just right, actually."

"Sadly, it still feels different," Gravis said to himself with melancholy. "Back then, I didn't know what would help me in understanding what. Now, I know exactly what I will learn. The wonder of discovery and surprise is gone. Finding out all the related Laws and which Laws I needed to understand them felt exciting. Now, everything just makes sense, and I know exactly what I need."

"Well, I guess that's normal. I simply got better at understanding Laws, taking a lot of magic out of the process. The Black Magnate might have been wrong regarding happiness, but when he spoke about the feeling of having supreme power, he knew exactly what he was talking about. The magic of the Laws is gone, and only a normal interest remains. In the future, this feeling might even be replaced by boredom or annoyance."

Gravis sighed again. "It's only a slight inconvenience. My happiness is not defined by understanding more Laws and becoming more powerful. Now, this has simply become my hobby and goal. One could also call it work. Many people despise work, but when they don't work for a long time, they become unhappy since they don't have a goal anymore. Work is bothersome for the moment, but it also gives one a goal."

"Success and happiness are two different things, after all," Gravis said to himself.

Then, he started concentrating on the different metals.

He tried using them to forge weapons but received one surprise after the other. He wasn't able to push them together to create a hardened edge, for example. The matter rejected itself as soon as the pressure increased. When Gravis used even more pressure, the weapon would just shatter like glass. 

Gravis didn't even try to fuse the materials with other materials. The Higher Complex Laws would be level five Laws and would be far more challenging to learn than the Pure ones. 

Gravis ignored the stream of Core Energy for now and concentrated on the different materials. The more he experimented with them, the more he got reminded of the time he tried to learn the Complex Material Laws. 

For some time, Gravis felt like he had returned to the past. He was simply walking around, looking at one stone after the other, trying everything he could to learn more about it. 

"This is actually far more interesting than I had thought," Gravis said with a light smile. "There is something about comprehending different materials one at a time that other Laws don't have. Just looking at something is different from manipulating and changing it. One is understanding, while this feels more like playing."

Gravis paused for a second and looked around the room. He could envision the stream of water, the forest, and the desert surrounding the mountain. He could also envision Ferris looking at some butterflies, randomly comprehending Laws. Gravis had to laugh when he remembered how Ferris annoyed him back then. 

It was like he had returned to the past.

"Would I want to go back to that time?" Gravis asked himself.

Gravis thought about this question for several seconds.

"Maybe a little bit, but not forever. I have my father, mom, Yersi, and Orpheus here. Back then, I had my three kids, but I couldn't meet them whenever I wanted. Additionally, our bond hadn't been as close as it is now. I would enjoy feeling the magic of comprehending my first Laws again, but I would also miss my family and friends," Gravis said.

"Right now, if there weren't the issue with my lightning, I would be as happy as never before."

Gravis looked around with a smile.

"I think I'm actually rather content with my life currently."