Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis looked at the tree with interest and stood up. After dusting himself off, Gravis walked over to that tree.

"I would like to trade for some of your fruits," Gravis said.

The tree scoffed again. "Give it up, boy. You're too weak for me."

"I know that," Gravis said with a smirk. "However, I'm sure that I have several level four Laws you would be interested in."

"What Laws can you know that could interest me?" the tree asked with a disdainful voice.

"What if I tell you that I know over 20 level four Laws?" Gravis said. Of course, Gravis actually knew over 50, but that would be overkill. 

"Over 20!?" the tree asked in shock. "Are you lying to me?"

"I'm not," Gravis said with his Law of Honesty. Gravis' Will-Aura was weaker than the tree's Realm, which meant that the tree could see that this was the Law of Honesty. 

The tree remained silent for several seconds, just trying to comprehend what Gravis had said. 

How was this possible!?

Early Minor Circulation Immortal Kings only knew two level four Laws on average. How could this one know over ten times as much? 

After some seconds passed, the tree's senses inspected Gravis closely. It tried to see anything special about him, but he just appeared like any other Black Demon. Nothing was out of place.

"That might change things," the tree said slowly. "I assume you are interested in Law Comprehension and not Realm increase?"

Gravis nodded. "I am interested in Law Comprehension," Gravis said.

"Then we both want the same thing," the tree said. "However, I first need to check if you know the Laws I want. Tell me the Laws you know."

"No," Gravis said directly. "I don't want to unveil my true power to anyone. How about you tell me the category you are most interested in, and I will tell you if I know some Laws from that category?"

The tree felt a bit displeased that Gravis didn't tell it his Laws, but it also understood where Gravis was coming from. Unveiling one's Laws gave the opponent the opportunity to counter them. However, the tree was obviously not interested in Gravis' demise, which made Gravis' actions appear a bit too careful.

"You know the Major Law of the Elements, right? After all, you wouldn't be alive right now if you didn't know it," the tree asked.

Gravis nodded.

"Do you know some Battle Laws for Inferno or Graphite?"

"Yes," Gravis said.

"What do you mean with yes?" the tree asked. "This was an either-or question."

"I know several Laws for both of them," Gravis answered.

This surprised the tree. Gravis knew Laws for both of them, and even several at that? 

"Which ones?" the tree asked.

"I can tell you, but you can't ask for any of my other Laws," Gravis said.

"Fine," the tree grumbled. This beast was way too careful for its own good. 

"Inferno's Heat, Decomposition, Efficiency, Explosion, and Concentration."

"Graphite's Gravity, Mass, Creation, Manipulation, and Efficiency."

The tree fell back into a state of shock.

Ten Battle Laws!?

For only two Elements!?

The tree quickly made some calculations and came to a terrifying conclusion. 

If this beast had an Avatar for the Major Law of the Elements, his base elements would already all be on the level of level five Laws. Then, with all of these Battle Laws, this beast's Inferno and Graphite Elements would reach a terrifying power. It wouldn't reach the power of a level six Law, but it was close.

The tree's senses locked onto Gravis with intensity. This was an exceptionally powerful beast, even for a Black Demon. No wonder the Ancestor didn't kill him.

This beast might become another Ancestor in the future.

Lastly, this beast already knew ten Battle Laws for Inferno and Graphite. When these two Elements were mixed together, they would turn into Magma, which was a level five Law. However, the Battle Laws for Inferno and Graphite could still be used with Magma to a certain extent.

If this beast comprehended Magma and upgraded his Avatar from the Major Law of the Elements to the Element of Magma…

The tree realized that this trade might end in the creation of one of the most powerful Minor Circulation Immortal Kings the world had ever seen.

"So, are you interested?" Gravis asked after he saw that the tree remained silent for a while.

"Yes," the tree answered. "However, this trade will be conducted with True Cultivation."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "True Cultivation? I haven't heard about that before."

Gravis knew that this question was taking a risk, but he was sure that he was nearly beyond any suspicion right now. He had just talked to one of the Ancestors. This tree probably trusted its Ancestor unconditionally, and if its Ancestor didn't see a problem with Gravis, there obviously wasn't a problem with Gravis.

"True Cultivation trading is not a simple exchange of matter," the tree explained without any suspicion. "You will be infusing a part of your body with your Laws and your being and cut that part off. Like this, the cut-off part will demonstrate these Laws with great clarity."

Gravis frowned.

He knew what that meant.

"So, you want me to actually cut off pieces of my Cultivation Realm," Gravis said. 

"Yes," the tree answered.

This was not a simple trade.

Usually, when a beast lost part of its body, it simply had to regenerate it. After all, its Cultivation was inside its mind and Beast Core, which shared the same place. However, by infusing one's Cultivation in a body part and cutting it off, it was like one was cutting off a part of their own power.

In short, if Gravis cut off 20% of his body, he would lose 20% of his Cultivation. Gravis would still remain an Early Minor Circulation Immortal King, but that was only because he had already made great strides in that Realm.

Gravis was about 98% on his way to the Mid Minor Circulation Immortal King Realm. This meant that if Gravis cut off 98% of his body after regrowing it a couple of times, he would fall back into the Peak Immortal Realm. 

This was a serious trade with a serious cost. 

However, Gravis' eyes shone. 'This is perfect!'

"I am 98% of my way to the next level," Gravis said. "I am willing to fall down to the beginning of the Peak Immortal Realm."

The tree was shocked. That was far more than the tree had imagined.

However, in exchange, Gravis would receive enough fruits to comprehend the entire Law up to the point where one required tempering. 

Comprehending a level five Law took an insane amount of time. 

The tree realized that Gravis was probably very confident in his power, with good reason. He was willing to sacrifice nearly two levels to save over 10,000 years of time.

Something like this was very daring, but it would help in the long term.

"Fine," the tree said. "I am willing to trade three Life Fruits for that."

"Only three?" Gravis asked.

"Do you know what Life Fruits are?" the tree asked.

"Aren't they just your normal fruits?" Gravis asked.

"No, Life Fruits are different," the tree said. "Life Fruits are the most powerful fruits, and each loss will also drain our Cultivation Realm. I am trading 3% of the progress of my level."

Gravis' eyes widened. "That's a bit much," Gravis said. 

This was an Immortal Emperor!

It needed far more than 10,000 Early Minor Circulation Immortal Kings to equal one Early Minor Circulation Immortal Emperor. 3% of progress already equated to hundreds of Early Minor Circulation Immortal Kings.

"You have shown me your willingness to sacrifice yourself for power, and it has inspired me," the tree said. "This is a fair exchange."

Gravis nodded. "Then, I will accept."

Gravis became bigger and retrieved his sabers out of his scales. After that, he became smaller again and begun cutting away. 

Gravis cut off his legs first and then went on to cut off four arms. This was already equal to 40% of his body weight. 

This was the first time that Gravis cut off parts of his body while infusing them with his Cultivation. Normally, Gravis didn't even feel it when he lost an arm or a leg, but this time, it was different.

Gravis felt himself become weaker and tired. It was like he was losing parts of himself.

As soon as one of Gravis' parts fell to the ground, some roots came out and pulled them underground. 

Time passed.

BANG!

Gravis fell back to the Peak Immortal Realm, but he didn't stop. He continued hacking away until he was on the verge of falling to the Late Major Circulation Immortal Realm. 

After Gravis was done, one of the branches of the tree plucked three shiny, red-brown fruits. Just their presence alone elicited fluctuations of Laws. 

Gravis took the fruits and looked at them with intensity. 'These are over 10,000 years of time I'm holding in my hands, and what have I paid for it?'

Gravis looked at the corpse of Spear Mountain in his Spirit Space.

'Nothing. Just a corpse.'

Gravis nodded at the tree and left. The tree also didn't say anything else. 

On the way out, Gravis also nodded to the brown snake. Initially, Gravis had thought that this brown snake was the protector of this place. However, it was obviously only a clerk. This Law Comprehension Area was probably the most secure place in the beast territory. Anyone that barged in here would be confronted with a ton of Immortal Emperors and an Ancestor.

After flying for a while, Gravis entered the ground again.

When he was outside everyone's senses, he absorbed Spear Mountain's corpse and reached the peak of the Early Minor Circulation Immortal King Realm again. 

Then, Gravis retrieved the three fruits and looked at them with intensity.

'I have a level five Law in my hand!'